Houthis expand attacks against US ships

The Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi militia has expanded its military attacks against the US Navy and US commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden significantly over the past week.

On Tuesday night, a Houthi anti-ship missile came within one mile of the USS Gravely, before the destroyer’s automated machine guns shot it down, making it the closest a Houthi attack has gotten to a US warship, according to CNN.

Though CNN and US Central Command reported the missile had been launched at the Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the official spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Sarea, stated the attack was directly aimed at the US Navy destroyer. 

Hours after attempting to target the USS Gravely, the Houthis announced that they had struck a US merchant ship they named as “KOI” in the Gulf of Aden with “naval missiles”. The militia's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the strike was direct.

In statements on X, US Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney yesterday evening shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile and three Iranian drones launched by the Houthis toward the Gulf of Aden.

This was in addition to a strike launched by US forces yesterday afternoon that destroyed a ready to launch surface-to-air missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, which Central Command said posed “an imminent threat to US aircraft”. 

The command center also announced that its forces had carried out strikes in the early hours of Thursday on a ground control station and ten one-way drones belonging to the Houthis.

CENTCOM Self-Defense Strike Against Houthi UAVs and Ground Control Station pic.twitter.com/9LUKQS2HEB

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 1, 2024

Houthi media said that US-UK strikes today launched several raids on the coastal defense camp in the Salif area in Hodeidah Governorate on the Red Sea. Yesterday evening, US forces bombed Kahlan camp in Saada Governorate, the Houthi stronghold, according to Yemen-based newspaper 26 September.

Since January 24, the Houthis have carried out approximately six naval military attacks - five against US naval and commercial ships, and one missile attack on British oil tanker Marlin Luand on January 26, which caused it to burn. 

Earlier today, Houthis leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi announced in a video speech that they had mobilized 165,000 recruits to fight against Israel and support the Palestinians. Al-Houthi denied the impact of the US-UK strikes on the Houthi operations.

“We are developing our military capabilities, and our attacks will not stop. The US and UK cannot protect their ships today in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Arabian Sea," Al-Houthi said.