Three anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea were destroyed by the United States during a new round of attacks on the Houthi rebels in Yemen. This was the US militarys fourth preemptive action in the midst of escalating hostilities in the Red Sea, the White House said in a statement.This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defence strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. This is the fourth preemptive action that the US military has taken in the past, White House said in a statement on Friday.The US Central Command informed that the attack was carried out at around 6:45 pm (Sanaa time) after the anti-ship missiles presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region.As part of ongoing efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on maritime vessels, US Navy ships are present in the Red Sea. On Jan. 19 at approximately 6:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), US Central Command forces conducted strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch, the US Central Command posted on X.https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1748469686470160775https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1748469686470160775s=20On January 17, at around 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa time), the US declared the strike to be part of its ongoing multi-national operations to safeguard freedom of navigation and thwart attacks on US and ally maritime activity in the Red Sea.Notably, in reaction to the Yemeni groups ongoing attacks and threats to shipping, the US labelled it as a terrorist organisation and put sanctions on it. However, the designation does not go into effect for a period of 30 days.The Houthis, who back Hamas, the militant Palestinian organisation, started their attacks in reaction to Israels invasion of Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, their strikes have scared key world powers and hampered trade between Asia and Europe.
