US Destroys Houthi Radars Used to Attack Commercial Vessels in Red Sea

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US military last week destroyed radar sites used by Houthi Shia Islamic rebels in Yemen to attack international commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, UPI reports.

The US strikes followed Houthi attacks on June 12 and June 13 against the M/V Tutor, a Greek-owned bulk carrier Houthi some 66 miles off the Yemeni port of Hudaydah in the Red Sea, and the Ukrainian-owned M/V Verbena in the Gulf of Aden, respectively.

Backed by Iran’s Shia Islamic regime, the Houthi movement is an armed Islamist political and military organization that originated in Yemen in the 1990s in opposition to Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh: the Houthis accused Saleh of corruption and alignment with the United States and with Sunni Islamic Saudi Arabia.

Claiming solidarity with the Palestinians after the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas triggered the current war in Gaza, the Houthis initially launched rocket and drone attacks against ships in the Red Sea that have owners or operators in Israel. The attacks have since targeted ships tied with a variety of countries.

In a statement Friday, CENTCOM said the US military had destroyed seven radars in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. “It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said in the statement on X. “This action was taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition and merchant vessels.”

“This continued reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM added in a statement after the Verbena attack. “The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are targeting and threatening the lives of third country nationals who have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza,” CENTCOM said.

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