The US military carried out strikes in Yemen on Tuesday targeting four Houthi rebel missiles that posed an “imminent threat” to merchant and naval vessels, a US official said.
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This is the third operation conducted in less than a week by the United States against the Houthis, who are targeting ships off the coast of the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, in solidarity, they say, with the Palestinians of Gaza, a bombed-out territory and besieged by Israel, supported by Washington.
“The United States conducted self-defense strikes against four Houthi ballistic missiles that posed an imminent threat to U.S. merchant and naval vessels,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
These “four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles” were “ready to be launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen,” he said on X.
Rebels again targeted a cargo ship on Tuesday, according to Centcom.
Last week, Anglo-American strikes targeted nearly 30 sites in Yemen with more than 150 munitions. US forces also attacked radar infrastructure, drones and missiles, in an operation billed as a continuation of previous attacks.
Last month, the United States established a multinational naval force to protect shipping in the Red Sea, a critical transit route that accounts for up to 12% of global trade.
American forces have intercepted missiles and drones launched from Yemen, where rebels, at war with the government, control much of the territory.
American interests are at the same time the target of the attacks in Iraq and Syria carried out, according to Washington, by armed groups linked to Iran.
The United States says it wants to avoid a regional conflagration linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where more than 24,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombings and military operations, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, or 1%. of the population, according to the authorities of the Palestinian territory.
Israel says it wants to destroy Hamas, following the Palestinian movement’s bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which left around 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
2024-01-16 19:17:15
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