U.S. forces carried out strikes against a Houthi drone ground control station and 10 one-way drones that “presented an imminent threat” early Thursday morning.
Central Command said they destroyed the control station and the drones “in self-defense” due to the threat posed to merchant vessels and the U.S. naval assets in the region.
The strikes represent the latest in a series of attacks on the Iranian-backed Yemeni-based Houthi rebels, due to their attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Hours earlier, the USS Carney shot down a Houthi-fired anti-ship ballistic missile and three Iranian drones in its vicinity. Also on Wednesday, the U.S. destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile that the Houthis prepared to launch.
Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, said on Tuesday the Houthis had attacked or threatened international and commercial shipping and U.S. naval assets three dozen times since Nov. 19, 2023.
The Houthis’ attacks have forced commercial shipping companies to consider rerouting their shipments to avoid the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Suez Canal. In normal times, 10%-15% of world trade passes through the area.
Iran has a group of autonomous proxy militias in the Middle East, many of which are in conflict with the U.S. or its interests in the region. The Houthis are among Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” as are a group of Iraqi militias that recently carried out an attack against U.S. forces in Jordan that left three U.S. troops dead and more than 40 injured.
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President Joe Biden has also approved limited strikes against the Iraqi militia groups, though there are expectations of a more expansive U.S. response due to the death of U.S. troops.
“We will respond in a time and in a manner of our choosing on our schedule, and just because you haven’t seen anything in the last 48 hours, that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to see anything,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Wednesday. “And as I said earlier, when you see the first thing don’t come to be thinking that that’s going to be the last thing.”
