The American army wanted to extinguish an “immediate threat”. This is the fourth time in less than a week that it has struck the Houthis on their territory in Yemen. During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the United States targeted 14 missiles from pro-Iran rebels who have been attacking maritime traffic for weeks, according to the American Military Command in the Middle East (Centcom).
These American strikes, in a Middle East which is approaching a regional conflagration, came a few hours after Washington once again described as a “terrorist” entity the Yemeni rebels who continue their attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden. According to the rebel channel al-Masirah, the nighttime strikes targeted “the governorates of Hodeida, Taiz, Dhamar, Al-Bayda and Saada”.
Protect merchant ships
“These missiles on launch pads posed an immediate threat to US Navy merchant ships and vessels in the area and could have been launched at any time, triggering the intervention of US forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves,” added the American command. “We will continue our activities to protect the lives of innocent sailors,” added Centcom Commander Michael Erik Kurilla, quoted in the press release.
A Houthi official told al-Masirah that his group would “continue to target ships heading towards ports in occupied Palestine, regardless of US-British aggression to try to stop us”.