What we know
- The United States and the United Kingdom struck 36 Houthi targets in 13 locations in Yemen today, which U.S. officials said were intended to "disrupt and degrade the capabilities" Houthis have used to attack ships in the Red Sea.
- The new barrage of attacks follow yesterday's airstrikes on 85 targets at seven facilities in Iraq and Syria
- A senior administration official said today's attacks are unrelated to Friday's strikes, which were in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan. A U.S. defense official said those were the first of what are expected to be a series of strikes. The military action is a significant escalation in Washington's bid to deter the growing threat from Iran-backed groups across the Middle East.
- The targets in Iraq and Syria included command and control operation centers, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, unmanned aired vehicle storage warehouses, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups.
- Civilians and soldiers were among those killed in Syria and Iraq, officials in both countries said today. A spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces called the strikes "a threat that will drag Iraq and the region into unforeseen consequences." The Iranian foreign ministry said it was “another strategic mistake” by the U.S.
- In a statement yesterday responding to a framework for a proposed temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, reaffirmed that any negotiations should lead to a permanent cease-fire and "a serious and rewarding" prisoner-hostage exchange. Israel has repeatedly rejected calls for an end to the war.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to the Middle East tomorrow, with stops planned in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the occupied West Bank. He is expected to further diplomatic efforts for the release of hostages, an extended humanitarian pause and increased aid to Gaza.
- NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Raf Sanchez, Courtney Kube, Matt Bradley and Chantal Da Silva are reporting from the region.
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U.S. attacks Houthi anti-ship cruise missile
The United States conducted a strike against a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile officials said was ready to launch against ships in the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The strike Sunday morning local time was described as being carried in self-defense.
Central Command said the missile was in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and "presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.
It was not a continuation of the coalition strikes Saturday that hit 36 Houthi targets in Yemen.
Second round of strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria possible, U.S. official says
A U.S. official said today that follow-up strikes on some of Friday's targets in Iraq and Syria are possible.
The official said a damage assessment was underway and if it finds some targets were not fully destroyed a second round of strikes on those locations could be ordered.
On Friday, U.S. forces struck 85 sites in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three American soldiers and wounded 40 other people at a remote U.S. base in Jordan last weekend, U.S. officials said.
The targets were composed of facilities used by Iran-backed militia and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II told reporters yesterday.
Friday's strikes came as Iran-backed militants across the Middle East, critical of the Unites States' support for Israel's nearly 4-month long war on Hamas militants, have ramped up attacks on U.S. personnel and interests in the region.
Asked whether the Biden administration is concerned the retaliatory strikes could impact the ongoing negotiations between U.S. and Iraqi officials to withdraw some troops from Iraq, the official said it’s too soon to say.
U.S. and U.K. launch airstrikes targeting Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
ABOARD USS EISENHOWER IN THE RED SEA — The United States and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes Saturday targeting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in response to the group’s continued attacks in the Red Sea, the countries confirmed in a joint statement.
The U.S. and U.K. struck 36 Houthi targets in 13 locations in Yemen using missiles launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, they said in the statement.
More than two dozen aircraft were also launched from the ship, a U.S. official said, some carrying 2,000-pound bombs, sidewinder air-to-air missiles and other precision-guided missiles.
It is not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded in the strikes.
The strikes Saturday “targeted sites associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars,” the joint statement said.
The statement added that the “precision strikes” were meant to “disrupt and degrade the capabilities” the Houthis have used to attack ships in the Red Sea, threatening global trade and innocent sailors operating the ships.
Onboard a U.S. aircraft carrier, a cat-and-mouse game with Houthi forces plays out
ABOARD THE USS EISENHOWER, the Red Sea — One by one, nearly two dozen Navy F/A-18 fighter jets roared off the deck of this aircraft carrier Saturday night as part of a joint U.S.-British attack on Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen who have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea.
It was the second night in a row that attack aircraft from the Eisenhower have targeted Houthi forces. Earlier in the day, sailors on a nearby destroyer, the USS Mason, demonstrated the high-speed decision-making needed for them to intercept and shoot down incoming missiles fired by the Houthis.
NBC News is currently the only news organization embedded with the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea while it is conducting strikes.
Adrenaline and morale appeared to be running high among crew members on both U.S. ships, despite the threat of incoming drones or ballistic missiles from the Houthis. As the Eisenhower, Mason and accompanying warships patrol the area, the weather is windy and warm, with a bright sun reflecting off the rippling water surrounding them.
A senior administration official said today's attacks are unrelated to Friday's strikes, which were in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan.
"The U.S. does not want escalation, and these strikes are directly in response to the actions by the Iranian-backed Houthis," the senior official said. "They are unrelated to the action the United States took on Friday in response to the continued attacks on our troops and facilities in Iraq and Syria."
U.S. and U.K. strike 36 Houthi targets in 13 locations
The U.S. and U.K. struck 36 Houthi targets in 13 locations in their joint attacks against the Iran-backed militants, U.S. Central Command said.
The 13 locations were all in "Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen," Central Command said in a statement.
The specific targets included "multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters," according to the statement.
The strikes aimed to "degrade Houthi capabilities" and prevent them from continuing attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
'We will meet escalation with escalation,' Houthi member says after latest U.S. and U.K. airstrikes
The Houthis will "meet escalation with escalation" after the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes on Yemen, according to Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi’s Ansar Allah political bureau.
"Our military operations against the Zionist entity will continue until the aggression against Gaza stops, no matter what sacrifices it costs us," Al-Bukhaiti said on X. "We will meet escalation with escalation, and victory comes only from God."
Who are the Houthi rebels?
DOHA, Qatar — Battle-hardened and backed by Iran, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks on Israel as well as commercial ships in the Red Sea, stoking fears of a wider conflict in the region already reeling from the war in Gaza and on tenterhooks about escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
After declaring support last year for Hamas in its fight against Israel, they have bombarded ships in the Red Sea. They fired 21 drones and missiles on Jan. 9, their biggest attack yet according to British officials, ignoring a United Nations resolution and ultimatums by the U.S. and its Western allies to stop.
A large clan originating from Yemen’s northwestern Saada province, the Houthis are an extremist movement that follows Zaydism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Yemen was ruled by a Zaydi imamate for 1,000 years, until it was overthrown in 1962. Stripped of their political power since then, the Zaydis struggled to restore their influence in the country.
Formally known as Ansar Allah — or “Partisans of God” — their name comes from Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, their former leader. He led an uprising in 2004 aimed at winning greater autonomy for Yemen’s provinces and protecting them from the perceived encroachment of Sunni Islam, according to the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
After the Arab Spring protests erupted in several countries in 2011, the group took control of the province of Saada. Three years later, its fighters swept into the capital, Sanaa, and forced President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government into exile.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia, unwilling to accept the prospect of Yemen being controlled by a militant organization backed by its regional rival, Iran, responded by starting a war against the group.
But despite support from the U.S., Britain and several other nations, who armed the Saudis with fighter jets and bombs, and provided them with military expertise, the conflict lasted far longer than expected and proved costly for Riyadh.
U.S. and U.K. launch airstrikes targeting Houthis in Yemen
The U.S. and U.K. launched airstrikes today targeting the Houthis in Yemen, a U.S. official confirmed to NBC News.
The airstrikes hit at least 30 targets in at least 10 locations, according to the officials. More than two dozen aircraft launched off of the USS Eisenhower, some carrying 2,000 pound bombs and sidewinder air to air missiles, as well as other precision guided missiles.
Missiles were also launched from the USS Gravely and USS Carney.
Today's strikes follow Friday's attack on 85 sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian forces and Iran-backed militants, the U.S.' first retaliatory response for the killing of three American soldiers in Jordan last weekend.
23 people killed in American airstrikes on eastern Syria, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says
A total of 23 people, including nine Syrians, were killed in American airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia positions in Deir Ez-Zor governate in Syria yesterday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Thirteen people were killed in Al-Mayadeen city and 10 were killed in the countryside of Deir Ez-Zor, the U.K.-based organization said.
