The US military has been struggling against targets of Yemeni Hooti militias every day since March 15, but the Pentagon has not provided details about the attack since March 17, stating that more than 30 Houthi targets were hit on the first day.
The military's central commander posts images on social media of jets on missions against the Iran-backed group Housys, but refused to reveal the number of targets hit so far, or identify some of the Hooty commanders who say they have killed them.
The Yemeni strike was at the heart of a catastrophe involving Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses and other senior members of the Trump administration, discussing sensitive details about the mission planned in a group chat on the messaging app before it began.
On Monday, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he was mistakenly included in the chat, details that could put the lives of American fighter pilots at risk.
President Trump ultimately said he was not worried about the leak and claimed that “it was harmless because the attack was incredibly successful.”
However, there are few details released.
A spokesman for Central Command said this week that the strike “destroyed command-controlled facilities, air defense systems, weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage sites.”
“Houthis is still in its capacity, but this is primarily due to the nearly 10 years of support provided by Iran,” the spokesman said.
Air and Navy strikes are intended to put pressure on the Houches, whose attacks disrupt the international shipping lanes of the Red Sea for more than a year.
The Trump administration has not given why it doesn't believe the campaign against a group with large underground weapons factories would be a success, as a year-long effort by the Biden administration failed to stop the attack on Houthi.
The US launched a new attack on parts of northern Yemen, ruled by the Houtis on March 15th. Navy attack aircraft have been struggling with Red Sea aircraft airline Harry S. Truman and Air Force fighter jets flying from bases in the Middle East, every day, against Footie targets.
The first strike was a message from senior American officials saying it was a new attack on extremists and Trump's message to Iran, calling for a nuclear deal with the government.
Trump has delegated the authority to attack targets on local and local commanders, allowing them to attack Footy's sites more quickly and efficiently, the commander says.
Yemeni officials say the strike has hit residential areas and buildings in Yemen's capital, Hatsana. The Central Command declined to comment on reports of civilians killed on the strike.
On the first day of the new attack, Trump told social media that Houchys “has launched a relentless campaign of copyright infringement, violence and terrorism against the United States and other vessels, aircraft and drones.”
Trump then asked Tehran's Iranian ruler: “To Iran: Hooty's support for terrorists must end soon. It does not threaten the president, or the Americans who have received one of the global shipping lanes, or the global shipping lanes.
The Biden administration, which often works with the British forces, has taken several strikes against the Hoosis, but has largely failed to restore stability in the region.
US officials said Houthis' airstrikes against Arsenal have been buried in many underground areas and could last for weeks, and will strengthen their scope and scale in response to extremists' responses. The US intelligence agency has struggled in the past to identify and find Houthi Weapons Systems, which were produced in underground factories and smuggled from Iran.
Admiral Kevin M. Dodegan, a retired F/A-18 pilot and commander of the US Navy in the Middle East, expressed his support for what he said.
“There is time to see whether this network approach will reestablish a free flow of commercial transactions, but the metrics of success are simple. Transportation on commercial vessels through the Red Sea will remain closed,” Admiral Dodegan said in a telephone interview.
Saeed Al-Batati contributed to a report from Al Mukalla in Yemen.
Albanian
Croatian
Dutch
English
French
German
Italian
Macedonian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish