U.S. Strikes Multiple Houthi Locations Across Yemen

 

U.S. forces unleashed today one of the largest assaults on the Houthis since the conflict began nearly a year ago. CENTCOM confirmed that forces conducted strikes on 15 Houthi targets to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more?secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels.

Few details were released on the scope of the strikes but it is believed that it involved five locations across Yemen. Associated Press is reporting that the strikes focused on the port city of Hodeida and its airport as well as near the capital of Sanaa, and elsewhere in the county.

It is believed that the strikes were conducted using a combination of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the guided-missile destroyers patrolling the Red Sea as well as using aircraft. The Houthis are alleging that British forces were also involved in today’s raids, but the British Defense Ministry is denying that it participated in the actions.

The targets are believed to include both command facilities and deployment centers. The U.S. was reportedly aiming for missile launch sites and storage facilities for the weapons. No damage assessments have been released but pictures appeared on social media of smoke rising over various locations. The Houthis have not announced any causalities.

 

Multiple sites across Yemen were hit in today's raids (Twitter/X)

 

The strikes came after the Houthi leadership staged a large-scale demonstration in Sanaa on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. In speeches, they vowed to continue to escalate their efforts. 

The U.S. forces were thought to be responding in part to a large-scale attack a week ago by the Houthi targeting three U.S. warships. The Houthis claimed to have launched 23 missiles and drones targeting according to media reports the guided missile destroyers USS Spruance and USS Stockdale and the littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis.

During the week, the Houthis also attacked and damaged the crude oil tanker Cordelia Moon and a Greek-owned bulker. They also claimed targeting a containership chartered to Maersk that was approaching Oman.

The Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in a video-taped address yesterday said the group had targeted a total of 188 vessels in addition to the growing number of assaults launched directly at Israel. The UK Maritime Trade Operation which monitors activity in the region numbered the attacks on Tuesday on the Cordelia Moon and a bulker as the 124 and 125 incident of 2024.