BREAKING: The U.S. and UK with support from coalition countries have carried out strikes on more than a dozen targets in 5 locations in Houthi controlled territories of Yemen. The targets include weapons storage facilities, drone & missile launchers, two U.S. officials said
— Liz Friden (@Liz_Friden) February 24, 2024
| The Times of Israel adds: |
Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s have been targeting shipping for months and their attacks have persisted despite repeated American and British strikes aimed at degrading the rebels’ ability to threaten a vital global trade route.
Early on Friday, US forces "shot down three Houthi one-way attack [drones] near several fat merchantmen operating in the Red Sea. There was no damage to any ships," the Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.
In a statement later in the day, CENTCOM said US forces destroyed "seven Iranian-backed Houthi mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch towards the Red Sea."
It said those strikes, carried out between 12:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Sana’a time, were made in self-defense.
"CENTCOM forces identified these missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the US Navy ships in the region," it said in a statement.
The day prior, American forces struck four Houthi drones as well as two anti-ship cruise missiles, CENTCOM said, adding that the weapons "were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea."