• Experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that heavy joint US-UK shelling of Houthi targets in Yemen remains constrained by the regime's desire to avoid provoking Iran. .
• Officials said more than 150 rounds of ammunition rained down on dozens of targets in about 30 locations, reducing the Houthis' ability to carry out further attacks.
• Yesterday's attack on the Houthis appears to be aimed at sending a message to the Houthis to stop their attacks, rather than any serious effort to destroy their military capabilities.'' researcher Bill Roggio told DCNF.

The long-awaited retaliatory strikes against Houthi-linked targets in Yemen, while large-scale, highlight the Biden administration's characteristic reluctance to avoid provoking Iran, experts tell the Daily Caller・Told the News Foundation.

U.S. and British forces, with support from four additional countries, launched an attack by aircraft, warships and submarines on Thursday night, Washington D.C. time, against ammunition depots and weapons launch sites used by the Houthis to target international shipping in the Red Sea. launched a large-scale attack. . However, initial reports suggest that the insurgents themselves emerged from the shelling largely unscathed, and appear to be attempting to eliminate Iranian-backed groups or provoking further Iranian escalation. It has been suggested that the regime intentionally limited its attacks in order to avoid this.

“The United States has shown great restraint in shooting down only direct attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis on commercial ships and our naval vessels. Last night's airstrikes and missile strikes were the right thing to do; It was overdue,” Mick Mulroy, former assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, told DCNF. (Related: Navy is on pace to miss recruiting targets despite encouraging December)

“I think it was to limit the attack to the immediate threat,” Mulroy said, adding that limited strikes also leave room for the United States to adjust its own response if necessary.

U.S. Central Command air forces carried out attacks on more than 60 targets at 16 different locations, “including command and control nodes, ammunition depots, launch systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems,” U.S. Air Force Alex Grinke said. Vice Admiral Witch said. , U.S. Air Forces Central Commander, Said In a statement.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, director of operations for the Joint Staff, said in a call with reporters Friday that a second round of airstrikes were conducted at 12 additional locations within the hour.

More than 100 rounds of ammunition of various types rained down on Houthi targets, Sims said.

From a US Navy aircraft USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Aircraft CarrierSims said the missile cruiser Philippine Sea and guided missile destroyers Gravely and Mason took part. An Ohio-class guided missile submarine also participated.

“This was not necessarily a matter of casualties, but a matter of diminished capabilities. We know exactly the capabilities that the Houthis are leveraging against international shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb.” Sims said the attack was aimed at destroying these assets.

“We're pretty confident that we've done a good job in this regard,” he said.

Four Royal Air Force Typhoon jets carried out UK Ministry of Defense 'precision strikes' on two targets with Paveway bombs Said In a statement.

Associated Press reporters and witnesses talked He told reporters he heard and witnessed multiple explosions in the capital Sanaa, the port area west of Hodieda, and the cities of Taiz and Damar south of Sanaa. The Houthis said the attack killed at least five people and wounded six others, the Associated Press said. report.

“Yesterday's attack on the Houthis appears to be aimed more at sending a message to the Houthis to cease their attacks than any serious effort to destroy their military capabilities. , we need a sustained campaign,” Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told DCNF.

Victoria Coates, a former Trump administration national security adviser and current director of foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation, also said the airstrikes served to send a message and were tailored to minimize Iran's response. I agreed that it was likely. But she also said the coalition strikes “probably won't prevent” future attacks.

“This has cost us far more than it has cost them,” she told DCNF, referring to the Houthis.

Expectations were high as news of an impending strike began to circulate hours earlier.

“Multiple countries may have been moving multiple assets. I hope it's not for Iran to move personnel, in which case this will have to be done, but it's not enough to just hit the equipment.” “This is another move by the Biden administration to prioritize de-escalation,” Managing Director Michael Allen said. Defense and intelligence advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies said in comments received by DCNF.

On Tuesday, the Houthis carried out a “complex attack” against the international shipping company CENTCOM. Said In a statement. Three guided missile destroyers, USS Eisenhower's Mason, USS Gravely, USS Laboon, and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters engaged eight Iranian-made unidirectional attack drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile. did.e. British warships too. repulsed Drone attack.

The attack tipped the Biden administration's calculated balance, administration officials said Thursday night. according to Go to the record of the call with the reporter. The president has shown a pattern of supporting diplomatic options and refraining from military action until necessary.

“Without this defense mission, there is no doubt that ships would have been attacked and possibly sunk, including in some cases commercial vessels carrying jet fuel. ” said a government official. The waterway, where about 15% of maritime trade takes place, was attacked, disrupting shipping and putting the lives of seafarers at risk, officials said.

President Joe Biden asked his national security team for response options after Tuesday's attack, senior military and administration officials said. Biden told a National Security Council leadership meeting to direct the airstrike to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is working from a hospital while recovering from complications from surgery to treat prostate cancer.

Before that, after the meeting on January 1st attack At Maersk in Hangzhou, the president called for a military option, but directed his team to accelerate ongoing diplomatic efforts, officials said. U.S. military helicopters from a nearby aircraft carrier and destroyer came under fire from insurgents aboard four boats, destroying three boats and killing several crew members in retaliation.

The decline in the Houthis' ability to carry out additional attacks was “significant”, a senior military official said.

As of Thursday, the Houthis had launched at least 27 drone and missile attacks against commercial ships sailing near the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and the U.S. military Said Thursday.

Mr Sims confirmed on Friday that a ballistic missile had been fired at another commercial vessel. do not have The target is within 500 meters.

At 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) on January 11, U.S. Central Command, in coordination with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain, launched an attack on the Houthis to reduce their ability to sustain attacks. Conducted joint attacks against targets. they are illegal… pic.twitter.com/bR8biMolSx

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 12, 2024

Iranian-backed proxy militias continue to attack U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. As of Tuesday, bases hosting U.S. military personnel from both countries had suffered at least 130 attacks, the Pentagon said. Said.

In the process of defending against these attacks, the U.S. military shot down dozens of drones and missiles that targeted or approached U.S. military personnel. One soldier was seriously injured in the December 25 attack.

The Pentagon said it was moving to strengthen air defenses at bases across the region, aimed at preventing a broader chain of war across the Middle East.

Since October 27, Mr. Biden has ordered four retaliatory attacks on facilities affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees insurgents and Iranian proxy operations.

“We must hope that these operations signal a real change in the Biden administration's approach to Iran and its proxies, which are responsible for so much evil and wreak so much havoc. They must understand that there is a heavy price to pay for acts of global terrorism and attacks on U.S. military personnel and commercial vessels,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson. Said In a statement.

The Houthis have promised escalation.

“The fighting will be much larger…and beyond the imaginations and expectations of both the United States and Britain,” senior Houthi official Ali al-Qahoum said, according to the Associated Press.

A senior government official said, “I would not be surprised if there is some kind of response.''

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