US strikes 15 Houthi targets in Yemen: Pentagon

The U.S. military struck more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, attacking the Iranian proxy’s bases and weapons systems, according to the Pentagon.

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) forces conducted strikes on 15 Houthi targets around 5 p.m. local time. The targets included “Houthi offensive military capabilities,” according to a statement from the command, which is responsible for protecting U.S. interests in the Middle East.

“These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels,” the statement adds.

U.S. officials earlier told The Associated Press that U.S. military aircraft and warships bombed Houthi strongholds at roughly five locations.

Houthi media said the strikes hit Yemen’s capital Sanaa, the airport in Hodeida, the south of Dhamar city and the southeast of al-Bayda province — the latter of which has several Houthi military outposts. 

The Houthi media also blamed the strikes on U.S. and British forces, but the United Kingdom said it was not involved.

Houthi rebels have launched steady attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea near Yemen since last November. The air and sea attacks, which they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war with Hamas, have been met with U.S. retaliatory strikes.

The Houthi activity has disrupted global trade, with companies forced to reroute their vessels away from the region.

The Houthis earlier this week claimed to have shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen, with the U.S. military acknowledging it had lost a drone.

The militia group also claimed responsibility for an attack aimed at three U.S. ships in the Red Sea. U.S. officials say Navy destroyers intercepted the two Houthi drones and more than half a dozen missiles and that there was no damage to its vessels, according to the AP.

The American strikes in Yemen also come amid the backdrop of a growing regional escalation after Iran’s major missile attack on Israel this week in response to a ramped-up Israeli airstrike campaign in Lebanon against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah.