The U.S. conducted its fourth round of air strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis on Wednesday in an attempt to prevent the terror group from continuing its campaign against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The most recent U.S.-led retaliatory strikes destroyed 14 missiles and their launchers as the Houthis were preparing to fire them from Yemen, U.S. Central Command said late Wednesday. The strikes reportedly hit three locations in the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, according to local news outlets in the Middle Eastern country.
“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,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, a CENTCOM commander. “We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people.”
The U.S. has attacked Houthi militants four times in the past week, the latest being the first since the Biden administration redesignated the group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization, one step down from the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation, which carries with it more severe sanctions.
Wednesday night’s strikes came hours after Houthis attacked a U.S.-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, Genco Picardy, via drone in the Gulf of Aden. No injuries and some damage were reported, CENTCOM said in a separate statement.
The preemptive strikes also came a day after the U.S. destroyed four anti-ship ballistic missiles, further damaging the rebel group’s ability to launch attacks on Red Sea merchant vessels. The U.S. first spearheaded the retaliatory strikes on Thursday and Friday of last week after the group refused to relent in their maritime attacks, which began in mid November.
The Israel-Hamas war continues to spiral the Middle East into broader destabilization. Iran, while continuing to fund its terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, has become more directly involved in military action this week.
On Tuesday, for example, Iran attacked two bases belonging to the Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl, in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province. This prompted Pakistan to strike back against separatist targets inside Iran early Thursday morning.
Pakistan said it conducted a “series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts,” particularly those belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front located in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. “A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
At least ten people were killed after several missiles hit a village in the Iranian province early Thursday morning, according to the Iranian-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the foreign ministry added. “The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised.”
Iran also led a separate missile attack near the U.S. Consulate in Iraq on Monday, while claiming to have been targeting Mossad headquarters. No U.S. facilities were struck in the attacks.