The U.S. military on Wednesday said it struck two underground weapons storage facilities controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
U.S. Central Command said in a news release that U.S. forces "conducted multiple precision strikes against two Iranian-backed Houthi underground Advanced Conventional Weapon storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories of Yemen."
"The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," the news release stated, adding there were no injuries to U.S. personnel or damage to equipment.
The U.S. is leading a multinational naval protection force called Operation Prosperity Guardian to thwart Houthi attempts at disrupting commercial shipping in the region.
"We're going to continue to work to degrade capabilities, and to ensure upholding the international rules-based order and the free flow of commerce through that region," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said during Wednesday’s briefing. "We continue to be successful in our strikes.
"Again, we're not going to be able to take off the map every single capability, but every single time that we conduct a dynamic strike, or do the strikes that you saw CENTCOM announce earlier this morning, that further degrades capabilities that they can use against commercial ships or our own Navy ships."
The strikes came a day after CENTCOM’s deputy commander, Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, met with Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Amir Baram in Israel to discuss strategy against the Houthis.
Cooper and Baram discussed countering threats from the Houthis in Yemen and other terrorist organizations in the Middle East, The Jerusalem Post reported. They attended a strategic briefing led by Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler, commander of Israel’s Air Force, and other senior officers.
On Sunday, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel, increasing the frequency of ballistic missiles fired at the Jewish state for several weeks without any significant breaks, the Post reported. The Houthis have been targeting Israel with missiles and drones and trying to disrupt commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip to Iranian-backed Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Houthis have launched more than 200 ballistic missiles and close to 200 drones at Israel, according to the Post. The attacks continued even after Israel launched four separate large-scale airstrikes late last month on areas under the terrorist group’s control in Yemen. Israel’s air force struck the Houthis’ main maritime ports multiple times and their international airport. Even a CENTCOM strike against a key Houthi installation on Dec. 31 did not stop the group from launching missiles at Israel.