USS Nitze Launches Tomahawk Missiles at Houthi Radar Sites

A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer launched a Tomahawk missile strike against three radar facilities under Houthi rebel control on Yemen’s Red Sea coast on Thursday. The strike launched from the USS Nitze comes after the USS Mason was targeted in two missile attacks launched from inside Houthi-controlled territory. NPR, citing a Pentagon official, reported that the radar sites were destroyed in the strikes.

“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in a statement. “The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb, and elsewhere around the world.”

The USS Mason was targeted in two separate attacks in the previous four days while on operations in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which runs between Djibouti and Yemen. Reuters reported that Houthi officials had denied responsibility for the attacks on the US warship. Houthi forces had previously claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a United Arab Emirates military vessel in the same area on October 1.

Houthi rebels have been locked in conflict with forces loyal to ousted President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi and a coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia since March 2015. Houthi forces launched ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia earlier this week in response to a deadly airstrike on a funeral in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on October 8 that killed 140 people. Credit: YouTube/US Navy