The U.S. military unleashed a new wave of strikes early Wednesday targeting the missiles of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen just hours after a separate American operation struck facilities in Iraq linked to groups which injured U.S. troops over the weekend, the Pentagon said.
The strikes in Yemen at 2:30 a.m. local time are just the latest attempt to deter the rebels from disrupting commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis have vowed to continue attacking vessels until Israel ends its war against Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement, the Pentagon’s Central Command said the U.S. operation early Wednesday was against “two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch.” The missiles were deemed to present an “imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region,” the statement added, claiming the missiles were therefore destroyed in “self-defense.”
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News of the operation came after the U.S. military also announced separate strikes against three sites in Iraq associated with Iran-aligned militias that officials claimed were responsible for recent attacks on American forces.
Central Command said the targets included the headquarters, training facilities, and munitions storage areas of the Kataib Hezbollah militia and other armed groups backed by Tehran in Iraq. The strikes were justified as being in “response to attacks” by Kataib Hezbollah, including one on Saturday against the Al Asad airbase in western Iraq. At least four American troops were left with traumatic brain injuries in the weekend assault, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the response to Kataib Hezbollah and other groups in Iraq was “necessary and proportionate” owing to “escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias.”
“We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region,” Austin said in a statement. “We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities. We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks.”
