The United States and United Kingdom launched a new wave of airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists inside of Yemen on Saturday in response to the Islamic terrorist group’s latest acts of aggression in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The strikes — which happened around midnight local time and were supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand — were carried out against 18 Houthi targets.
“The targets included Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “These strikes are intended to degrade Houthi capability and disrupt their continued reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial and U.S. and U.K. vessels in the Red Sea, Bab AI-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.”
The statement highlighted how the Houthi attacks have “disrupted humanitarian aid bound for Yemen, harmed Middle Eastern economies, and caused environmental damage.”
The strikes were not part of the multinational freedom of navigation actions performed under Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is a group of nations that have dedicated resources to protecting merchant vessels that are seeking to use the Suez Canal.
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The strikes were the fourth wave of strikes that the countries have launched against Houthi targets inside of Yemen over the last couple of months in response to four months of attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — who referred to the Houthis as a “militia,” while CENTCOM correctly referred to them as a terrorist group — claimed that the administration “will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”
The Biden administration has failed to launch strong enough strikes against the Houthis to deter attacks against the merchant ships and against U.S. Navy ships in the region.
Last weekend, a British-flagged ship was seriously damaged from a missile strike and the vessel is now on the verge of sinking. The Houthis also shot down a U.S. military drone.
Related: Biden Admin Worried About ‘Environmental Disaster’ Caused By Houthis