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 is a major attack on the U. S. Navy. 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. Iranian-backed rebels attack ships and sailors who have nothing to do with the war, while traffic remains halved in a major shipping corridor.
The U. S. measures destroyed seven radars in Houthi-controlled territory, the army’s central command said. It did not specify how the sites were destroyed and did not promptly respond to questions. “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 shipment. “The team abandoned the shipment and were rescued via the USS Philippine Sea and its forces,” Central Command said.
The British Army’s Maritime Commercial Operations Centre in the UK said on Saturday afternoon that the Tutor “is still on fire and sinking”.
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 specifically waiting for the sailor on board to send him out and pray that we can get him back,” he reportedly said Friday night.
The Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on ships, killed three sailors, seized one ship and sunk others since November, according to the U. S. Maritime Administration. On Thursday, a Polish-owned, Polish-owned ship was attacked as it headed to Italy carrying timber, Central Command said, and one sailor killed.
A U. S. -led crusade of air movements has targeted 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 36,000 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. “
Gambrell writes for the Associated Press.
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