The United States has launched bombing raids, using long-range B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, on underground bunkers used by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists to store missiles and drones, officials said on Oct. 16.
The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) stated that it was assessing the damage inflicted by U.S. Navy and Air Force pilots, but there was no indication of civilian casualties.
US Can Target ‘Anytime, Anywhere’
Centcom confirmed in a statement that U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers were involved and stated that “the employment of the B-2 bomber demonstrates U.S. global strike capabilities to reach these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”The Houthis’ main spokesman, Yahya Sare'e, who has an account on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has not commented on the bombing raid. Yemen, which is south of Saudi Arabia, is close to one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Arabia and Africa, is a key pinch point.
The Houthi rebel movement—part of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance—draws members from northern Yemen’s Shiite Muslim Zaydi community.
Officially known as Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), they have controlled the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and a swath of territory in north and west Yemen since 2014.
Since shortly after Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, the Houthis have been firing missiles in the direction of Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, which they claim is either heading to or has stopped in Israel.
The Houthis are estimated to have about 20,000 fighters in Yemen and possess thousands of missiles and drones, largely sourced from Iran or manufactured on the basis of Iranian designs.
Earlier this month, the U.S. military carried out 15 strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, with residents reporting explosions at military outposts and an airport.
‘Hardened Underground Facilities’
In its statement, the U.S. military said: “Centcom forces conducted multiple, precision airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that contained various advanced conventional weapons used to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.“These actions were taken to degrade the Houthi’s capability to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial shipping and on U.S., coalition, and merchant personnel and vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, and to degrade their ability to threaten regional partners.”
The Centcom statement did not go into detail about the munitions used but said that “Centcom forces targeted the Houthis’ hardened underground facilities housing missiles, weapons components, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels throughout the region.”
Centcom stated that it would provide an update on the raid as soon as more information was available.
Satellite images will be analyzed in an attempt to assess whether the raids completed their task.
Earlier this week, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said the country was in danger of being dragged into the Israel–Iran conflict.
He said the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea “have significantly increased the risk of an environment disaster.”
Grundberg and the U.N. acting humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya, urged the Houthis to halt their attacks on shipping.
On Oct. 15, Grundberg said many Yemenis were working for peace but that “now, like many in the Middle East, their hopes for a brighter future are falling under the shadow of potentially catastrophic regional conflagration.”
A Houthi missile attack on the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in August came close to causing a major oil spill in the Red Sea, with potentially catastrophic environmental consequences.
