US bombers target Houthi underground weapons depots in Yemen

The US says it carried out “precision strikes” against five weapons depots in areas controlled by the Houthi movement in Yemen.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said B-2 Spirit stealth bombers were part of the operation, which targeted fortified underground facilities housing missiles and other munitions that the Iran-backed group had used to attack civilian and military ships.

The attacks demonstrated the U.S. ability to hit facilities that adversaries wanted to keep “out of reach,” he added.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said the attacks targeted six areas in and around the capital Sanaa and two near the northern city of Saada. No casualties were reported.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, also said there were no early indications of civilian casualties from the attacks.

Several of the areas mentioned by Al-Masirah host military bases in which Analysts said satellite images showed the Houthis were building or expanding underground facilitiesincluding the TV area in the north of Sanaa and al-Hafa in the southeast.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi political official, wrote on X that the attacks would “only strengthen our resolve to continue our military operations in support of Gaza.”

Since November 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They sank two ships, captured a third of the attacked ships and killed crew members.

They claim they support the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships associated only with Israel, the US or the UK.

They were not deterred by the use of Western warships to protect merchant ships or by US and British air strikes on areas they controlled in northwest Yemen.

The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have forced major shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal, impacting international trade.

Austin said in a statement: “At President Biden's direction, I authorized these targeted attacks to further undermine the Houthis' ability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend U.S. forces and personnel in one of the world's most critical waterways to weaken.”

He added that the US would “continue to make it clear” to the Houthis that there will be “consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks.”

In September, the Pentagon said the Houthis had launched a “complex attack” on U.S. Navy ships in the region, with all weapons fired being shot down.

In addition to attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Houthis have fired several rockets and drones directly at Israel.

In July, a drone launched from Yemen hit Tel Aviv, killing one person. In September, the group fired several rockets into Israel, including one that targeted Israel's main airport.

Both times, Israel responded with attacks on sites in Houthi-controlled Yemen, including fuel tanks and other infrastructure in the Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

The Houthis are part of an Iran-backed network of armed groups in the Middle East that includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.