2024-01-22 21:51:00
(CNN) –– The United States and Britain launched additional strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, marking the eighth round of US military strikes against the rebel group’s infrastructure in just over 10 days, two officials told CNN. defense.
President Joe Biden spoke with his British counterpart, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on Monday, the White House said earlier in the day. In their conversation, they touched on a variety of topics, including security in the Red Sea.
For his part, Nasr Al-Din Amer, director of the Houthi-run Saba news agency, said the US and UK attacks on Monday hit Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and cities of Taiz, Al-Bayda and Hajjah.
“US-British aggression incursions into several Yemeni governorates, including the capital Sanaa, Taiz, Al-Bayda and Hajjah,” Amer said in a social media post.
CNN previously reported that the United States named the ongoing operation against Houthi assets in Yemen as “Operation Poseidon Archer,” suggesting a more organized and potentially long-term approach to attacks in that country that have sought to deter the Houthis from hit commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Since January 11, the United States has struck Houthi targets in Yemen eight times, most of which were launched unilaterally by the US military. The first wave of bombings, in which the United States and the United Kingdom hit approximately 30 locations in Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, marked the beginning of Operation Poseidon Archer, an official said.
The strikes have targeted the Houthis’ one-way attack drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and other assets, as the United States has sought to impair the group’s ability to hit international shipping lanes.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that the Houthis had not launched a new attack on commercial shipping since January 18. That day, the group claimed to have attacked a US-owned cargo ship, the M/V Ocean Jazz, but a defense official told CNN that claim was not true.
Biden acknowledged Thursday that the U.S. strikes were not stopping the Houthis, who have continued such activities and, in some cases, attacking U.S.-owned commercial vessels operating off the coast of Yemen.
However, Biden said the US airstrikes would continue anyway. And Singh indicated on Monday that it would ultimately be up to the Houthis and pro-Iran groups when to end their attacks.
Singh said last week that the Pentagon’s initial assessments are that the strikes against the Houthis have been “very successful” in destroying “virtually all targets,” leaving less capacity for the Houthis to deploy in the future in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have said they will not stop their attacks until the war between Israel and Hamas inside Gaza ends. Houthi leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi said in a speech Thursday that it is “a great honor and blessing to confront the United States directly.”
Last week, the US Navy intercepted a ship off the coast of Somalia bound for Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen carrying Iranian-made missile components, Central Command announced in a statement. That operation resulted in the deaths of two Navy SEALs who fell overboard while trying to board the ship, CENTCOM said.
The United States also carried out all of its strikes against Houthi targets last week unilaterally, in contrast to the coalition of countries that supported the first round of joint US and UK strikes against the Houthis on January 11.
Singh noted Thursday that future joint action was not out of the question, but that CENTCOM commander Gen. Erik Kurilla had the authority to order strikes when he deemed necessary to protect shipping in the region, including U.S. naval assets stationed in the Red Sea. After each of the strikes the United States carried out against the Houthis last week, CENTCOM said the missiles the United States destroyed were being prepared for an imminent launch by the Houthis.
National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby told reporters Thursday that the administration is “making it more difficult” for the Houthis to continue their attacks with each attack on their infrastructure. And he noted that the government has “additional options” available if the Houthis do not stop. But he declined to preview what those options would look like.
“I’m not going to telegraph blows one way or another, except to say what the president said this morning: that if the Houthis continue down this path, we will continue to do everything we can to disrupt and degrade their ability to make those decisions,” he said. .
“We are not looking for a conflict with the Houthis, we are not looking for a conflict in the region,” he added. “But we have to be able to act in our own defense, not only for our ships and our sailors, but also for merchant ships and merchant sailors and international shipping in the Red Sea.”
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