By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers
The US has unleashed a new wave of strikes against
Houthi targets in Yemen.
A statement from US Central Command said: "This strike
was conducted by the USS Carney using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a
follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on
12 January designed to degrade the Houthi's ability to attack maritime vessels,
including commercial vessels.
The blitz on Friday
came a day after
initial strikes against over 60 targets used by the Iranian-backed rebels to attack
ships in waters near the Arabian Peninsula.
The second round of bombing was much smaller in scale
and targeted a Houthi radar facility, an official confirmed. It came after the
Houthis fired at least one anti-ship missile earlier the same day.
The additional strikes were conducted during the
overnight hours of Jan. 12 and followed an initial wave
of attacks that
were intended to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities to attack shipping in the
Red Sea, Director of Operations for the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II
told reporters.
“We will make sure we
respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior along with our
allies,” Biden told
reporters on Jan. 12.
Satellite images show a damaged radar site at Sana'a
Airport in Yemen following Friday's strikes
In effect, the
strikes represent the least bad option with limited aims and are unlikely to
completely rid the Red Sea shipping lanes of the Houthi threat.
The US recognizes the
danger of too much military involvement. Equally, it sees the risk in too
little - to leave the Houthis ready and resourced to relaunch attacks in the
Red Sea doesn't remove the threat to shipping.
It also increases the
threat of the US being sucked into a prolonged side conflict with
Iranian-backed militants that could escalate elsewhere.
So a second round of
strikes at Houthi targets would seem to reflect the determination of the Americans
to match their declared intent - to degrade the Houthis military and, in so
doing, remove a complication that carries the threat of expanding aggression in
the region.
The measure of their
effectiveness will be in how the Houthis respond.
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