The Iranian-supported Houthis still possess a large arsenal of sophisticated weapons despite weeks of regular U.S. strikes, according to U.S. defense officials.
The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group that holds territory in the western part of the country, have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Houthi attacks began in mid-November and they cited Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas as their motivation, while the U.S. first responded militarily last month. They’ve carried out strikes regularly since then.
On Thursday morning, U.S. Central Command forces shot down three Houthi one-way attack drones near commercial vessels operating in the Red Sea. On Wednesday morning, U.S. aircraft and a coalition warship shot down six Houthi one-way attack drones in the Red Sea, while the Houthis also fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles that impacted the MV Islander. Later on Wednesday, U.S. forces carried out strikes against four drones and two mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that the Houthis were prepared to launch.
“I think yes, we’ve certainly seen in the past 48, 72 hours an increase in attacks from the Houthis, more consistency,” Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Thursday. “We know that the Houthis maintain a large arsenal. They are very capable. They have sophisticated weapons, and that’s because they continue to get them from Iran.”
The Houthis hit the Rubymar, a bulk carrier sailing under the Belize flag, this week. The crew had to be evacuated from the ship, which Singh said is “taking on water as we speak,” and noted that the fuel is now leaking into the water and was carrying fertilizer. They also recently targeted a ship that was carrying grain and was intended for the Yemeni population.
The attack on the Rubymar is the first Houthi attack that caused enough damage to require the immediate evacuation of the crew and potential salvage operations, a U.S. defense official told the Washington Examiner.
From the start of these strikes on Jan. 11, the U.S. strikes have destroyed or degraded more than 100 missiles and launchers, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Feb. 8. Those include anti-ship land attack and surface-to-air missiles, plus numerous communication capabilities, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, coastal radars, air surveillance capabilities, and weapon storage areas.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Another U.S. defense official told the Washington Examiner that the department “at no point said that we’re wiping all their capabilities off the map” and said they know the Houthis have a “large inventory, a large warehouse, and they’re going to continue to use it.”
The Houthis are one of Tehran’s many proxies in the Middle East that it uses to carry out its goals without using its own forces. Other groups that make up Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” include militias in Iraq and Syria, which have carried out more than 180 attacks on U.S. forces since October though not since Feb. 4; Hezbollah in Lebanon; and Hamas in Gaza.
