For the fifth time in a week, the United States on Thursday attacked Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen, the US military said, underscoring the resilience of the Iran-backed militia’s arsenal and its goal of disrupting vital international shipping lanes.
The series of strikes, and the Houthis’ defiance, have fueled fears that the widening conflicts of the Middle East could worsen and provoke deeper military involvement by the United States and its allies.
The region is tense from military strikes and violence involving a range of countries, factions and motivations. Israel has for months waged war against another Iran-backed group, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, and has clashed with a third, Hezbollah, along its border with Lebanon. In the wake of a terrorist attack at home, Iran this week fired missiles at targets in Iraq and Pakistan, and then Pakistan carried out strikes inside Iran.
The Houthis, who have portrayed their attacks on ships as a battle to force Israel to end its campaign in Gaza, have defied demands by the Biden administration and its allies to cease their attacks on shipping lanes critical for global trade.
The U.S. military conducted the strikes against two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were prepared to launch into the southern Red Sea, the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a statement. U.S. forces had identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, it said, and determined they were “an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.” A U.S. official had earlier said three targets had been hit.
The strikes Thursday came after Navy vessels fired Tomahawk cruise missiles to destroy 14 missiles and launchers Wednesday, and the U.S. carried out airstrikes against four other missiles Tuesday.
Despite the Houthis’ assertions about the purpose of their campaign of missile and drone attacks — more than 35 in all so far since November — many of their targets have had no clear connection to Israel.
“We praise God for this great blessing and great honor — for us to be in a direct confrontation with Israel and America,” the leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, said in a televised speech Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration said that it would designate the militia as a terrorist organization, blocking the groups’ access to the global financial system, among other restrictions.
But the latest U.S. strikes, as well as continued volleys by the militia, have illustrated the difficulty facing the United States and its allies in dismantling the Houthis’ arsenal, much of which is mounted on mobile platforms and can be readily moved or hidden. Two U.S. officials cautioned Saturday that even after strikes hit more than 60 missile and drone targets, they had damaged or destroyed only about 20% to 30% of the Houthis’ offensive capability.
Also Wednesday, a drone launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen struck the U.S.-owned bulk carrier Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, the Central Command said. There were no injuries and only minor damage to the ship, which continued its journey.
—International New York Times