(Washington) The American army destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile on Wednesday, ready to be fired from Yemen and deemed potentially threatening to American aircraft, it said in a statement.
Before taking action, American forces determined that this surface-to-air missile “presented an imminent threat” to American aircraft, justified CENTCOM, the United States military command for the Middle East.
The US military did not specify what type of aircraft, civil or military, could have been targeted by the Houthis.
Houthi rebels, who control large swaths of Yemeni territory, have carried out more than 35 attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19, according to the Pentagon, disrupting maritime traffic in this essential area for world trade.
These insurgents close to Iran say they want to prevent ships linked to Israel from sailing off the coast of Yemen, “in solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been in the grip of the war between Israel and Hamas since October 7.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, deployed warships to the Red Sea and carried out several strikes in January against rebel positions, sometimes jointly with the United Kingdom.