The US launched two separate strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed group, as the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war continues to roil the Middle East.
US forces destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile they said was being prepared for launch at about 3:30pm Yemen time on Wednesday. Five hours later, the USS Carney, a destroyer, intercepted a Houthi anti-ship missile fired toward the Gulf of Aden and also shot down three drones in the area, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Later, at 1:30am, the US struck what it said was a drone-control station and 10 one-way drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Photo: Reuters
“They presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM, which is in charge of US forces in the Middle East and parts of Asia, said of the later incident.
The frantic few hours for the US military came as the White House prepares its response to a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan over the weekend, which killed three soldiers and wounded dozens.
The US blamed Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria for the assault and US President Joe Biden is under pressure to retaliate fiercely against the Islamic Republic.
Some Republicans, including US Senator Lindsey Graham, are urging Biden to hit Iranian territory. A less escalatory response might be to hit Iranian targets or proxies abroad, in countries such as Iraq and Syria.
The US has determined that Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group aligned with Iran, was responsible for the assault in Jordan, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said late on Tuesday.
Biden said earlier this week he has decided on his response, but did not give any details on the timing or extent of it.
He said he does not want to escalate tensions with Iran to the point of causing a wider war in the Middle East.
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