U.S. forces struck Houthi military targets on Thursday in Yemen for the fifth time since the rebel group began harassing commercial and military shipping vessels in the Red Sea.
The U.S. struck two Houthi anti-ship missiles “prepared to launch” in the southern Red Sea, destroying the artillery “in self-defense,” U.S. Central Command said on X. The strikes come one day after the U.S. redesignated the Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist group, in light of the Red Sea shipping chaos the group has caused.
President Joe Biden admitted the strikes have not deterred the Houthis from threatening global shipping, but said they would continue anyway.
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“When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No,” he told reporters while leaving the White House for a speech in North Carolina. “Are they going to continue? Yes.”
The Houthis have been antagonizing the U.S., Israel, and their allies since October. They say their operations are in retaliation to Israel’s military action against Palestinians since Oct. 8.
