2024-02-01T06:40:43+00:00
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/ The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that it had carried out a preemptive strike, destroying ten Houthi drones and a missile in Yemen that were targeting the US Air Force.
Reuters quoted a US official late Wednesday as saying that the United States had bombed up to 10 drones in Yemen that were ready to be launched, amid rising tensions caused by the war in Gaza and its spread across the region.
Reuters indicated that US forces destroyed a Houthi missile yesterday, Wednesday, which posed an “imminent threat” to US aircraft, according to what the US military command in the Middle East (CENTCOM) announced.
“US Central Command forces bombed and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile that was prepared for launch,” the CENTCOM statement said.
He added that the forces had located “the missile in areas controlled by the Houthis, and decided that it posed an imminent threat to US aircraft,” without specifying the type of aircraft or the location of the strike.
The Iran-allied Houthis, who control the most populous areas of Yemen, have launched a wave of explosive-laden drones and missiles at commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in recent weeks, in what they have described as a response to Israeli military operations in Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The Houthi campaign has caused disruptions to international shipping.
The United States and Britain carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and Washington re-listed the Houthi group as a “terrorist group.”
The Houthis said on Wednesday that their naval forces carried out an operation targeting an “American commercial ship” in the Gulf of Aden, hours after missiles were fired at the US Navy destroyer Greely.
Houthi attacks on ships in and around the Red Sea have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, raised fears of supply bottlenecks and raised concerns among major powers about a regional expansion of the Gaza war.
US President Joe Biden said last month that strikes on Houthi targets would continue even as he acknowledged they might not stop their attacks.
The Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli operations have killed nearly 27,000 people since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel that it said killed 1,200.