US says it hit three cellular anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned floor vessel.
The United States has performed 5 strikes in areas of Yemen managed by Houthi rebels, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has stated.
It stated it struck three cellular anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned floor vessel, and one unmanned underwater vessel (UUV) on Saturday.
“This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began on Oct. 23,” CENTCOM stated in a submit on X on Sunday.
CENTCOM stated it had decided the missiles and vessels offered an imminent risk to US Navy ships and service provider vessels within the space.
There was no speedy remark from the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The strikes come amid heightened tensions within the area, the place Houthi fighters have carried out assaults on industrial and navy transport since November.
The Houthis initially stated that they’d goal Israel-linked ships in a present of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, however later expanded their targets to incorporate vessels linked to the United Kingdom and the US.
London and Washington have responded by hitting Houthi targets in Yemen a number of instances, characterising the Houthi assaults as indiscriminate and a risk to world commerce.
On Saturday, the Houthis claimed duty for a missile assault on a British oil tanker that the US recognized as a Panamanian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil certain for India.
Faced with mounting Red Sea insecurity, main transport traces have largely deserted the vital commerce route for longer routes round Africa. This has elevated prices, feeding worries about world inflation whereas sapping Egypt of essential overseas income from shippers utilizing the Suez Canal to or from the Red Sea.
“While we continue to hope for a sustainable resolution in the near future and do all we can to contribute towards it, we do encourage customers to prepare for complications in the area to persist and for there to be significant disruption to the global network,” transport big Maersk stated in January.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/18/us-carries-out-five-strikes-in-houthi-controlled-areas-of-yemen?traffic_source=rss
