US carries out fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthis

WASHINGTON - The United States military carried out another round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Jan 19, targeting missile launchers that were preparing for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the White House said.

Washington is seeking to reduce the Iran-backed Houthis’ military capabilities,

but the Yemeni rebels are still able to continue their attacks despite a week of strikes, and they have vowed that they will keep targeting merchant vessels.

The Houthis began striking Red Sea shipping in November,

saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and subsequently declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

“This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defence strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

“This is the fourth pre-emptive action that the US military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks,” Mr Kirby said.

“These actions were... done in self-defence, but it also helps make safer international waters for both naval vessels as well as merchant shipping.”

The air campaign against the Houthis began last week with

American and British strikes on nearly 30 sites in Yemen

using more than 150 munitions, while US forces later attacked a Houthi radar site in what was described as “a follow-on action” to the previous strikes.

Growing Middle East crisis

Since then,

American forces have carried out further air raids

against missiles that Washington says were ready to launch and posed a threat to both civilian and military vessels.

Washington is also seeking to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Houthis,

redesignating them as a “terrorist” entity

after previously dropping that label soon after President Joe Biden took office.

Yemen is just one part of a dangerous and growing crisis in the Middle East, with Iran-backed militants carrying out attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria, Israel and Hezbollah exchanging cross-border fire on a near-daily basis, and the war against Hamas taking a devastating toll on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out

a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on Oct 7

that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Following the attack, the US rushed military aid to Israel, which has carried out a relentless campaign in Gaza that has killed at least 24,700 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Those deaths have sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an opening for attacks by armed groups across the region that are opposed to Israel and the US.

The violence in Iraq and Syria and the continued attacks by the Houthis have raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran – a worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately seeking to avoid. AFP