Houthis Claim to Stop U.S. Attack by Targeting USS Harry S. Truman

 

A spokesperson for the Houthi militants in Yemen is claiming that they have once again targeted the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. It is the second time in less than a week the group has made this claim with the prior report on December 31 when the U.S. acknowledged it was targeting Houthi command and control, weapons storage, and radar installations.

“Our forces conducted a special operation targeting the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman with two cruise missiles and four drones in the northern Red Sea as the US enemy was preparing to launch a major aerial attack on our country. The operation led to the failure of the attack,” claimed the spokesperson Yahya Saree.

U.S. Central Command has not commented on the report and instead said U.S. forces had been focused on ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria. According to the update from CENTCOM, U.S. and coalition forces between December 30, 2024, and today, January 6, 2025, staged multiple raids targeting ISIS. Among the operations, they said one resulted in the capture of an ISIS attack cell leader in Syria.

Most of the Houthi’s attacks have been directed at sites in Israel in recent weeks. This has led to retaliatory strikes from Israel. The Israel Defense Force and others in the government had warned that Israel would increase its assaults to stop the launch of missiles and drones.

In addition to the two reports of targeting Truman, the Houthis in late December made claims to have downed at least two U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones.

It is just over three weeks since CENTCOM confirmed Truman and its strike group had arrived in the region. The carrier group deployed on September 23 from Naval Station Norfolk for a regularly scheduled deployment. CENTOM said the carrier strike group arrived in the region on December 14.  In addition to the air wings, the carrier group consists of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, USS Gettysburg, and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Stout and USS Jason Dunham. 

Tensions have been high as the Houthis target the U.S. warships. Shortly after arriving in the region, Gettysburg downed one U.S. fight with friendly fire, and a second incident was also reported. Both planes were approaching the Truman to land when the first one, an F/A-18 tanker was shot down and the second plane recorded a near miss.