US Central Command put out a video overnight between March 16 and 17 showing continued attacks on the Houthis in Yemen.
America began delivering strikes over the weekend and is now stepping them up. The goal is to prevent the Houthis from attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The Yemen-based terrorist group claimed to target a US aircraft carrier and other ships with missiles. The Houthis clearly intend to continue attacks; therefore, America is also continuing strikes.
The Houthis claimed overnight that there were attacks against the city of Hodeidah on the coast. It should be recalled that Israel also struck the coastal city in response to months of Houthi attacks. The attacks on Hodeidah did not deter them in the past.
Washington had downplayed Houthi threats of retaliation and US officials say they are ready to keep up the pressure.
According to Al-Ain media in the UAE, which relied on reports from Yemen, two strikes took place Monday in Hodeidah. The same report said the US strikes have targeted “Houthi bases, command centers, and missile defense sites to protect US shipping in the region and restore freedom of navigation.”
The report notes that the Houthis have said they will resume attacks on ships this week. “On Sunday and Monday, the Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for two attacks against a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, asserting that they would also target US cargo ships. This was in retaliation for US strikes on Yemen that killed 53 people, according to the Houthi health ministry,” the report said.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi called on his supporters to take to the streets on Monday. The US has threatened to hold Iran responsible for the Houthis acts.
Tehran has distanced itself from the Houthis. US officials have been speaking on various media to explain the attacks. It is clear that this is a broad and deep policy of the Trump administration, which expects success here.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said over the weekend that “I want to be very clear: this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence.” Freedom of navigation has been a US policy for more than 100 years. It was a key element of president Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points at the end of the First World War.
An asymmetric type of war
The war on the coast of Yemen is a complex and asymmetric type of war. The US has tremendous naval assets in the region, while the Houthis have ballistic missiles and drones.
For instance, they have already claimed to target a US carrier using up to 18 ballistic missiles and a drone. Iran Ellis Jones, who tracks American naval activity and actions in the region, put out an important post on X/Twitter illustrating the naval assets the US has in the region.
Off the coast of Yemen, his post indicates, is the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman accompanied by the USS Gettysburg Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, USS The Sullivans Fletcher-class destroyer, and the Aegis guided missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Jason Dunham, the latest of the three destroyers to put to sea, having been commissioned in 2010. The USNS Arctic supply-class fast combat support ship is also with the carrier group.
All of this provides the US with serious firepower to deal with the Houthis. However, the question will remain, as time goes on, whether this is enough.
The Truman has a new commander as well. Its former commander, Capt. Dave Snowden, was removed in February after a collision with a merchant ship off the coast of Egypt, USNI reported. He was replaced by Capt. Christophe “Chowdah” Hill.