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The US has launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen for the fourth time as the Iran-backed rebel group continues to target commercial ships transiting the Red Sea.
US Central Command forces on Wednesday conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles, which it said the rebel group was preparing to fire from areas it controls in Yemen. The missiles “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time”, Centcom said.
The strikes “will degrade the Houthi’s capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea”.
The Biden administration has said it is not seeking a wider conflict in the Middle East and has vowed to contain regional fallout from the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but it has also said it will not hesitate to act to protect freedom of navigation in the crucial Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
“The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways,” said General Michael Kurilla, commander of US forces in the Middle East. “We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people.”
The strikes, the fourth in less than a week, come as the Houthis have vowed to continue targeting ships and to respond aggressively to military action against them. The Iran-backed group has said their campaign is a response to Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Houthis launched an attack drone and struck a bulk carrier ship in the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries and the ship, the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated M/V Genco Picardy, sustained some damage but was “seaworthy and continuing under way”, Centcom said.
The Biden administration on Wednesday redesignated the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist group. The Houthis had previously been removed from the list to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen.
The designation “is an important tool to impede terrorist funding to the Houthis, further restrict their access to financial markets and hold them accountable for their actions”, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
The Houthis have continued to harass commercial and military ships in the Red Sea since the US and the UK first took co-ordinated military action against the group last week.
Many commercial shippers have decided to avoid the critical shipping route, opting instead to take the longer journey between Asia and Europe through the Cape of Good Hope.
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