The US military carried out airstrikes on several Houthis weapons storage facilities in Yemen, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the US Air Force’s B-2 stealth bombers were part of an operation to carry out “precision strikes” on five weapons storage sites underground in areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen.
“US forces targeted several underground Houthi facilities housing various weapons components of the types the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region,” Austin said.
Lloyd said he authorized the strikes under President Biden.
U.S. Central Command said in its own statement that the strikes using B-2 bombers “demonstrated the United States’ comprehensive strike capability to strike these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”
It is the latest in a series of US airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed Houthi militant group, in retaliation for Houthi missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Earlier this month, CENTCOM reported that U.S. aircraft and warships had hit 15 targets containing Houthi offensive military capabilities.
The United States, the United Kingdom and their allies having led several series of joint strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen dating back to mid-January.
Since November 2023, the Houthis having led dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea, which it sees as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. These attacks have caused significant disruptions to supply chains around the world. The Houthis to have sunk two commercial ships and one missile attack in March, on board a Liberian ship in the Gulf of Aden, three people were killed.
Houthi militants diverted a cargo ship linked to Israel last November, taking crew members hostage.
And in an escalation of events, the Houthis hit downtown Tel Aviv directly with a drone in July that killed one person and injured eight others. This attack prompted Israel to retaliate by its own airstrikes in Yemen.
In his statement, Lloyd said that “for over a year,” the Houthis “have recklessly and unlawfully attacked U.S. and international vessels transiting the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. Illegal Houthi attacks continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce, threaten environmental catastrophe, and endanger the lives of innocent civilians and the lives of U.S. and partner forces.
In January, the Biden administration declared the Houthis as a “specially designated global terrorist group”.
Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
