Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that U.S. B-2 bombers and other aircraft struck five underground Houthi weapons storage locations in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed rebel group. The facilities housed various weapons components used by the Houthis to target civilian and military vessels in the region. This marked the first time the U.S. used B-2 bombers against the Houthis in Yemen. The strikes were seen as a demonstration of the U.S.’s ability to target heavily fortified facilities.
The Houthis, supported by Iran, have been attacking civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in response to the conflict in Gaza. The U.S. has taken action to protect shipping routes in the region, through which billions of dollars’ worth of goods pass annually. Previous airstrikes were launched in January against Houthi weapons in response to attacks on commercial shipping.
The ongoing conflict in Yemen, with the Houthis seizing the capital in 2014, has led to extreme hardship for the population. The United Nations has described Yemen’s humanitarian crisis as the largest in the world, with over 18 million people in need of assistance. The strikes on Houthi weapons were authorized by President Joe Biden and aimed to degrade the group’s destabilizing behavior and protect U.S. forces in the critical waterways of the region.
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