The Pentagon said that the United States bombed on Wednesday three radar sites controlled by Houthi revolutionaries in Yemen.
The strikes in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, authorized by President Barack Obama, were conducted with Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by the destroyer USS Nitze, a US official said.
“Initial assessments show the sites were destroyed,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
The strikes “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,” it added, referring to missiles which fell near a US warship earlier this week.
“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway.”
“The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb, and elsewhere around the world,” Cook said.
The United States is backing a Saudi-led coalition launching brutal aggression against Yemen.
But US air forces are not directly involved in strikes in Yemen, that are increasingly criticized by the international community for their devastating impact on civilians.
Source: AFP
