The US carried out a round of strikes in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis on Wednesday evening, according to three US defense officials, targeting weapons storage facilities, including underground facilities.
The facilities housed advanced conventional weapons used to target military and civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the officials said.
The strikes were carried out by B-2 Spirit bombers, according to one of the officials, marking the first time the US has used the strategic stealth bomber to attack the Houthis in Yemen since the beginning of the US campaign. The B-2 is a much larger platform than the fighter jets that have been used so far to target Houthi facilities and weapons, capable of carrying a far heavier load of bombs.
The attack on the Iranian-backed proxy group comes at a time of huge tension in the region. Israel is expected to retaliate for Iran’s recent missile barrage before the November 5 US election, and its conflicts with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza are ongoing.
Wednesday’s strike — early Thursday morning, local time — is the latest in a saga of back-and-forth attacks by the Houthis and the US, as the Houthis have been carrying out constant attacks on commercial shipping and Navy assets in the region for months.
It also comes as US service members have begun arriving in Israel after the US announced the deployment of an advanced anti-missile system to help protect Israel following Iran’s missile barrage.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
