Two American sources told CBS News that the United States and the United Kingdom jointly carried out “more than a dozen” airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday. Since January 11, there have been four rounds of coordinated coalition strikes aimed at pressuring the Houthis to desist from targeting Red Sea commercial shipping channels.
A coalition of states involved in Saturday’s attacks, including the militaries of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, released a unified statement stating that the strikes hit eight different Houthi targets in Yemen.
The attacks targeted “Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter,” the statement said.
U.S. Central Command reports that over 30 self-defense strikes had been carried out by the U.S. in recent weeks against Houthi weaponry that were “prepared to launch” in order to attack commercial or U.S. Navy ships.
In a second statement on Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared, “The United States will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the most critical waterways in the world.”
“We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks, which harm Middle Eastern economies, cause environmental damage, and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries.”
The Houthis have persisted in firing drones and missiles against ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. This is in spite of the overwhelming assault. U.S. defense authorities reported this week that since November 19, there had been at least 60 Houthi attacks.
According to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, “We never said that we were taking every single capability that the Houthis have off the map, but every single day that we conduct a strike, we are degrading them further.” Singh made this statement on Tuesday.
“And so I think the [Defense] Secretary has confidence that the more we continue to do this, the Houthis are going to – they are already seeing the effects,” said Singh.
Although U.S. authorities claim that many of the ships the Houthis have targeted have no relation to Israel or the Gaza conflict, the Houthis have tied their attacks to the conflict between Israel and Hamas and have vowed to continue striking ships that support Israel’s fight.
“The Houthis’ now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response,” the joint statement released on Saturday stated.
“Our coalition of like-minded countries remains committed to protecting freedom of navigation and international commerce and holding the Houthis accountable for their illegal and unjustifiable attacks on commercial shipping and naval vessels.”
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