The U.S. military conducted strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen for the second day in a row March 16, hours after U.S. Air Force fighters helped fend off a drone attack by the Houthis in retaliation for an earlier round of U.S. strikes.
President Donald Trump and top administration officials have promised a renewed campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have waged war against shipping in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait for over a year, launching hundreds of attacks on shipping. U.S. forces have launched several large-scale attacks on Houthi facilities during that time, including under the Biden administration.
The strikes launched by the U.S. military on both March 16 and March 15 included airstrikes launched from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier using F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters and Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy vessels, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The strikes are the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said in a statement the U.S. conducted 47 strikes on March 15 targeting Sanaa, Saada, Al-Bayda, Hajjah, Dhamar, Marib, and Al-Jawf. The group said dozens of people were killed.
In retaliation for the March 15 strikes, the Houthis launched an hourslong drone and missile attack against the USS Harry S. Truman and its accompanying warships on March 16. U.S. Air Force fighter jets defended the Navy ships, shooting down multiple drones over the Red Sea, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The Houthis said in a statement they “will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red and Arabian Seas in response to their aggression against our country.”
Trump administration officials have suggested it plans to use the U.S. military to keep striking the Houthis until they end their attacks on commercial shipping and U.S. Navy vessels in the region.
Posted by John3262005
3 Comments
Only thing I can agree with Trump about
one thing to keep in mind is that the houthis like getting bombed
getting bombed by the USA , makes them look like self sacrificing heroic underdogs in the arab world
leadership hides in caves and so are safe
drones/missles are kept in small groups and moved around , so vast majority survived bombing
civilian death toll and destruction doesn’t matter to them
Without either a proxy group or direct boots on the ground this will achieve nothing.