News, US counter-attacks in Iraq and Syria, tensions in the Middle East and more

According to officials, the United States and the United Kingdom launched strikes on more than 30 targets in 13 locations from air and surface platforms, including F/A-18s, against Houthi positions in Yemen.

The United States and the United Kingdom carried out the attacks with the support of several other countries, according to a joint statement on Saturday.

“Today’s attack specifically targeted the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems and radars,” said the statement issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Canada and Denmark. Targeted sites associated with. Netherlands and New Zealand.

The Houthis said American and British warplanes attacked several provinces in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

A US official told CNN that two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes. USS Gravely and USS Carney fired ground-attack cruise missiles and F/A-18 fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, officials said.

Context: The attacks come on consecutive days as President Joe Biden’s administration has promised a “multi-tiered” response to the drone strike that killed three US service members and injured more than 40 last weekend. .

To avoid a regional war with Tehran, the United States has not directly targeted Iran but has instead attacked some of its most powerful proxies in the region. According to CNN reports, this is a roundabout way of sending a message to Iran’s leaders, who are alarmed by the actions of some of the extremist organizations they support. Iran funds, arms and supplies these groups to varying degrees, but its leadership does not directly control them.

The attacks in Yemen differ from those in Iraq and Syria: the first attack is a response to ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping routes and US warships in the Red Sea, while the second is retaliation for a deadly attack against US troops. But both target Iran-backed groups in the Middle East.

CNN’s Iyad Kourdi contributed to this post.