The U.S. military launched additional strikes against the Houthis on Thursday, the fifth time it has done so this week.
Thursday’s strikes targeted two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed in the direction of the southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch, U.S. Central Command said. They determined the missiles posed “an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. navy ships in the region,” the statement said.
“We did it again this morning, striking at some anti-ship missiles, a couple of anti-ship missiles that we had reason to believe were being prepared for imminent fire into the southern Red Sea,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Thursday.
The Houthis have carried out more than 30 missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and other nearby waterways since mid-November. The United States and other Western countries issued multiple warnings before the U.S. and United Kingdom launched their first military response one week ago.
The U.S. strikes, which military officials have said were designed to degrade the Houthis’ ability to carry out future attacks, have not fully prevented them from doing so as of Wednesday.
“Well, when you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No,” President Joe Biden acknowledged on Thursday. “Are they going to continue? Yes.”
He and other U.S. officials have warned of additional actions if the Houthis didn’t stop their attacks.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The U.S. has now launched four additional sets of strikes, most recently on Wednesday night and again on Thursday. Wednesday night’s strikes were launched against 14 different missile launching sites, according to U.S. Central Command. Those strikes were launched hours after the Houthis hit a U.S.-owned merchant ship, from the shipping company Genco, though none were injured, and the ship continued with its mission with some damage sustained.
The Houthi attacks have not yet resulted in any deaths, though they did kidnap the crew of the Galaxy Leader, one of the vessels they disrupted. Their attacks have, however, threatened the global shipping industry and forced those companies to contemplate rerouting their ships on a much longer journey to avoid being targeted by the Houthis.
