The U.S. struck a wide range of Houthi targets in Yemen over the past two days and is hitting more today, the Pentagon said March 17.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, director of operations for the Joint Staff, said U.S. forces struck more than 30 targets in the first wave March 15, resulting in “dozens” of military casualties. More strikes followed March 16, Grynkewich said at a Pentagon briefing, but he did not say how many.
“Today, the operation continues, and it will continue in the coming days until we achieve the President’s objectives,” Grynkewich said.
U.S. Central Command released videos of the March 17 actions against the Houthis on social media. The footage shows F/A-18 Super Hornets and EA-18 Growler electronic warfare attack aircraft launching from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the region.
President Donald Trump announced a renewed campaign March 15, saying the U.S. would attack the Iranian-backed Houthis in response to their attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait for over the past year.
U.S. forces launched several large-scale strikes on Houthi facilities over the past year, including under the Biden administration, but had not conducted any in recent months. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the latest campaign will continue until the Houthis stop attacking shipping vessels and American personnel.
Grynkewich said the Pentagon was striking a “much broader range” of targets this time around, and that operational commanders now have greater targeting authorities than before. Included are “terrorist training sites, unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure, weapons manufacturing capabilities, and weapon storage facilities,” Grynkewich said. “It also included a number of command and control centers, including a terrorist compound where we know several senior Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle experts were located.” He later added that U.S. forces also hit “detection capabilities that have been used to threaten maritime shipping in the past.”
A U.S. official previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the strikes were conducted by fighters launched from the Truman and Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy vessels.
In response, the Houthis launched a counter-attack, an hours-long drone and missile attack against the Truman battle group and its accompanying warships in response. U.S. Air Force fighter jets shot down multiple drones over the Red Sea.
Grynkewich and Parnell confirmed the retaliation but downplayed the threat.
“The Houthis claim to have tried to attack the Harry S. Truman,” Grynkewich said. “Quite frankly, it’s hard to tell, because while we’re executing precision strikes, they missed by over 100 miles. … I would question anything that they claim to the press that they’re doing or not doing. It’s very hard to tell what they are [doing] just based on the level of incompetence that they’ve demonstrated. There’s also been a number of other attempts to interdict vessels in the Red Sea, using UAVs and some cruise missiles as well. All of those have been easily defeated by our fighter aircraft.”
The U.S. military is expected to send additional aircraft to the region, officials previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The Pentagon has periodically surged Air Force assets in the Middle East during periods at moments of high tension.
Also on March 17, U.S. Africa Command announced it had conducted a “collective self-defense airstrike” against the terrorist group al Shabaab in Somalia. AFRICOM said it assessed that military adversaries were killed in the strike, while no civilians were harmed.