The US Central Command (Centcom) said that it launched a strike at dawn on Thursday against 10 drones that were prepared for launch and a ground control station in areas controlled by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) in Yemen.
The command stated that a US Navy ship also shot down 3 Iranian drones and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden, without reports of injuries or damage.
It previously confirmed that its forces destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile that was equipped to be launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and represented an “imminent threat” to its aircraft.
The Embrey Maritime Security Company also reported that a missile launched from Yemen at dawn today hit a commercial ship off the coast of the country.
“A commercial ship was reportedly targeted by a missile while sailing…southwest of Aden, Yemen,” Embry said, adding that “the ship reported an explosion” on board.
American raids
On the other hand, the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah Channel said that US-British raids targeted the Al-Jabanah area in the city of Hodeidah, west of the country, in the early hours of Thursday.
The group announced earlier that American and British forces launched a number of raids on Saada Governorate, northwest of Yemen, and stressed that “this aggression will not pass without response and punishment, and the aggressor countries must bear the consequences of their aggression.”
The military spokesman for the Houthi group, Yahya Saree, also said that the Houthis will confront the American-British escalation with escalation and will not hesitate to respond with broad and qualitative military operations, indicating that they will continue to prevent Israeli navigation or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine until the aggression against Gaza stops.
The US State Department said that Secretary Anthony Blinken and British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps discussed the events in the Red Sea and the international movement to hold the Houthis accountable for their attacks.
Support Gaza
It is noteworthy that the Houthis began targeting ships linked to or heading to Israel in the Red Sea last November, in support of the Palestinians who face ongoing aggression against Gaza.
On January 12 and 22, American and British forces launched a series of strikes on their military sites in an attempt to deter them. The United States also formed a multinational maritime task force last month to help protect shipping in the Red Sea, through which up to 12% of global trade passes.
In addition to military action, Washington sought to exert diplomatic and financial pressure on the Houthis, and reclassified them as a “terrorist organization” last month, after previously dropping this classification following President Joe Biden’s assumption of the presidency.
