Ships and fighter jets of the US Central Command have bombarded more than a dozen sites in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the port of Hodeidah.
The Houthis are a Shia group styling themselves as the Yemeni government and who control the northwest of the country. They have been interdicting Israeli and Western shipping in the Red Sea for almost a year, to pressure Israel to stop attacking Gaza.
According to the US military, the strikes targeted 15 Houthi targets on Friday afternoon, going after “offensive military capabilities” in order to “protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels.”
Prior to the official statement from CENTCOM, unnamed US officials told AP that the strikes had taken place against “weapons systems, bases and other equipment” at five locations.
According to Yemeni media, there were seven strikes at the Hodeidah airport and the military base at Katheib. Two explosions were reported in Dhamar province, and three in Bayda province, southeast of Sanaa. Four more strikes targeted the capital itself.
Friday’s bombing was the first US operation against the Houthis since June. Israeli jets struck Hodeidah last week, after the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel.
The Yemeni group has fired missiles or drones at more than 80 merchant ships since last October, when Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza, following a series of deadly raids by the Palestinian group into Israeli territory. Initially, the Houthis targeted just vessels “linked to” Israel but expanded their interdictions to US and UK vessels after the Anglo-American airstrikes in January.
Washington sent several warships into the region as part of “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” an effort to keep the Bab el-Mandeb Strait open. The US Navy has not been able to deter the Houthis, however, causing most Western shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal and route their vessels around Africa instead.
Over the weekend, the Houthis released a video of one of their sea drones striking the Panamanian-flagged tanker Cordelia Moon in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have shot down nearly a dozen US surveillance and strike drones. They have also fired on US warships multiple times. CENTCOM maintains that all of the incoming missiles and drones have been successfully intercepted.
The US has accused the Houthis of being a proxy of Iran, which the group has denied. Earlier this week, Iran launched a massive missile barrage at Israel, in retaliation for the recent killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, as well as a senior general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Lebanon.