The U. S. military has unleashed a wave of attacks on radar sites operated through Yemen’s Houthi rebels following their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor, the government said Saturday, after a merchant seaman went missing following an earlier Houthi attack on a ship.
The attacks come as the U. S. Navy has been arrested. The U. S. is facing the most intense fighting it has experienced since World War II to try to counter the Houthi campaign, attacks that rebels say are aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Attacks by Iranian-backed rebels have the Houthis targeting ships and sailors who have nothing to do with the war, while traffic remains halved in a major corridor for goods and energy shipments between Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The U. S. measures destroyed seven radars in Houthi-controlled territory, the army’s Central Command said. He did not specify how the sites were destroyed and did not respond to questions from The Associated Press.
“These radars allow the Houthis to target maritime vessels and endanger shipping,” the central command said in a statement.
The United States destroyed two bomb-laden drones in the Red Sea, as well as a drone introduced by the Houthis over the waterway, he said.
The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital Sana’a since 2014, have not declared either the army’s movements or losses. This has been a typical scenario since the U. S. began launching air moves against the rebels.
Separately, Central Command said a sailor from the Greek bulk carrier Tutor, flying the Liberian flag, is still missing after an attack Wednesday by the Houthis, who used a bomb-carrying drone to attack the ship.
“The team abandoned the shipment and was rescued by the USS Philippine Sea and its forces,” Central Command said. “The Guardian remains in the Red Sea and gradually becomes watery. “
The missing sailor is Filipino, according to the official Philippine news agency, which quoted Secretary for Migrant Workers Hans Leo Cacdac, who said a maximum of 22 sailors from the Guardian were from the Philippines.
“We are looking to locate the sailor in question on board the ship and we pray that we can locate him,” he reportedly said on Friday night.
The Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on ships, killed three sailors, captured one ship and sunk since November, according to the U. S. Maritime Administration. A U. S. -led crusade of air movements has attacked the Houthis since January, with a series of moves on May 30, killing at least 16 other people and wounding 42 others, according to the rebels.
The war in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, while many more have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 others and taking about 250 hostages.
“The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are attacking and risking the lives of third-country nationals who have nothing to do with the confrontation in Gaza,” Central Command said. The current risk to foreign industry is making it more difficult to deliver much-needed aid to the other peoples of Yemen and Gaza. “