What to Know:
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced that strikes were carried out against an additional two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were “aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch” on Thursday, which posed an”imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.”
Follow Up Strikes:
The announcement comes as American naval forces carried out strikes last night against 14 loaded Houthi missiles that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves.”
Since January 11, the United States has carried out five rounds of strikes, hitting 81 Houthi targets, which include command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems.
Attacks Continue:
Houthis have continued their campaign targeting commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea despite American retaliatory strikes. The Houthis have maintained that attacks will continue as long as Israeli forces operate in Gaza, recently adding that “a retaliation to the American and British attacks is unavoidable, and that no future attack will go unpunished.”