By Al-Fassel | 2024-01-18

Close to midnight Thursday (January 17), US forces conducted strikes on 14 missiles the Houthis had loaded to be fired from areas of Yemen that the Iran-backed group controls, the US military said.

The latest round of strikes came in the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on US and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X.

They came in the aftermath of a Houthi drone attack launched 8.30pm Thursday from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen that struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, causing some damage but no injuries.

M/V Genco Picardy is a Marshall Islands flagged, US owned and operated bulk carrier ship, CENTCOM reported, adding that Genco Picardy is seaworthy and continuing under way.

"These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time," CENTCOM said after the Thursday night strikes.

This promoted US forces "to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves," it added.

The strikes and other US actions, including the re-designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group and sanctions targeting the group's financial facilitators, are intended to degrade the Houthis' capabilities to continue their "reckless attacks."

The Iran-backed group has targeted international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden with drones and missiles, and has hijacked commercial vessels, taking crew members hostage.

“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,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla said.

"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people.”

Houthis remain defiant

The "terrorist" designation is part of Washington's strategy to put pressure on the Houthis, which also includes military action and the establishment of an international coalition to help protect shipping from the group's attacks.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Thursday said the new 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."

"If the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will immediately reevaluate this designation," Sullivan said.

But the Houthis said they would not call off their strikes and vowed to respond to new strikes on Yemen by the United States or Britain.

The United States says dozens of countries have connections to the ships that have been targeted in the vital waterway.

On Tuesday, the US military said it destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen that posed an imminent threat to military and civilian vessels.

The United States and Britain targeted nearly 30 sites in Yemen with more than 150 munitions last week, while US forces later attacked a Houthi radar site in what was described as "a follow-on action" to the previous strikes.