The destroyer USS Nitze launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at three radar sites on Yemen’s coast early Thursday morning local time as retaliation for this week’s two missile attacks on U.S. ships, according to the Pentagon.
“Early this morning local time, the U.S. military struck three radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Initial assessments show the sites were destroyed. The strikes — authorized by President Obama at the recommendation of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford — targeted radar sites involved in the recent missile launches threatening USS Mason and other vessels operating in international waters in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement late Wednesday.
Cook said the strikes were conducted in order to protect military personnel, ships and freedom of navigation after recent attacks against the U.S.
#USNavy #USSNitze launches strike Oct. 13 against 3 coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory in #Yemen – https://t.co/ZTG1WmVQ9w pic.twitter.com/cHweOQpoe5
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) October 13, 2016
Navy ships sailing in international waters off the coast of Yemen were targeted Sunday and Wednesday. None of the missiles made it to the ships and no sailors were injured. Pentagon officials had vowed retaliatory action after determining who was behind the launches.
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A U.S. official said the radar sites were active during this week’s attacks on the U.S. ships and a recent attack on the Swift-2, a United Arab Emirates-flagged high speed vessel.
The official pointed out that the three sites were in remote areas of Houthi-controlled territory where there was little risk of civilian casualties.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson called the attacks coming from an area controlled by Houthi rebels “unjustified” and “serious.”
In the Wednesday attack on the Mason, the destroyer was targeted by a shore-launched coastal-defense cruise missile. The ship detected the missile around 6 p.m. local time and responded with countermeasures; the incoming missile fell into the sea.
The Wednesday attack on Mason happened 16 years to the day since terrorists rammed the destroyer USS Cole with an explosive-laden boat in the Port of Aden, Yemen, while the ship was refueling. Seventeen sailors were killed.
