2024-02-22T05:20:11+00:00
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/ The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced today, Thursday, that it had launched 4 strikes against 7 cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile launcher belonging to the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), noting that it had shot down a drone belonging to the group.
“On February 21, between 12:00 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. (Sana’a time), U.S. Central Command forces conducted four defensive strikes against seven Houthi (Ansar Allah) mobile anti-ship cruise missiles and one mobile anti-ship ballistic missile launcher that were ready to launch toward the Red Sea,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
“U.S. Central Command forces shot down a UAS one-way attack drone system in self-defense,” the statement added.
“CENTCOM forces have renewed missiles, launchers, and drones coming from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and determined that they pose an imminent threat to commercial vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region,” the statement continued.
The statement concluded by saying, “U.S. Central Command forces struck and destroyed the missiles, launcher, and UAV in self-defense. These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and commercial vessels.”
Since Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa last October, Ansar Allah has announced targeting 40 ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab with missiles and drones, while implementing its decision to prevent ships linked to Israel or heading to its ports from passing through the Red and Arabian Seas, in response to the Israeli army’s operations against the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.
On October 10, the Ansar Allah group announced that it would support the Palestinian resistance in confronting the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, with missile and air attacks and “other military options,” if America intervened directly militarily in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Strip.
Every now and then, the Ansar Allah group announces that it is part of the resistance axis that includes Iran, Syria, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Palestinian resistance factions, affirming its readiness to participate in the fighting alongside the Palestinian resistance.
Since September 2014, the Ansar Allah group has controlled most of the central and northern governorates of Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a. On March 26, 2015, an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations in support of the Yemeni army to retake those areas from the group’s control.