US launches additional strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen were targeted Friday by additional US airstrikes one day after a large-scale American and British aerial assault on the militant group. 

The latest air raid targeted a radar site used by the Houthis to target maritime traffic in the Red Sea and was smaller in scope compared to Thursday’s offensive, US officials told multiple outlets. 

The strike was carried out unilaterally by American forces, a US official told CNN, coming after the militant group launched at least one anti-ship ballistic missile Friday in response to the initial US- and UK-led attack.   

“So we did see one anti-ship ballistic missile that was fired today,” Army Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II told reporters during a briefing. “That did not hit any of any ships of any kind, and we’re still working through that.”

“My guess is that the Houthis are trying to figure things out on the ground and trying to determine what capabilities still exist for them,” he added. “But I would expect — as, you know, their rhetoric has been pretty strong and pretty high — I would expect that they will attempt some sort of retaliation.” 

More than 60 targets in 28 locations in Yemen were hit Thursday night after President Biden authorized military action against the Houthis in response to repeated missile and drone attacks against US and foreign shipping vessels in the Red Sea.

“These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden, 81, said in a statement released after the first strikes. 

The president warned Friday that the Tehran proxies could face additional military action if they continue to disrupt shipping lanes.

“We will make sure we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior along with our allies,” Biden told reporters Friday.

A senior Houthi official threatened that the US and UK would both pay a “heavy price” for the bombings. 

“America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” Hussein al-Ezzi wrote on X.

Five Houthi fighters were killed and six were wounded in Thursday’s strike, according to Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree.

“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” he warned. 

Iranian officials charged the strikes were “a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a breach of international laws.”