The U.S. struck Iranian-linked targets in the Middle East for a second consecutive day Saturday.
The U.S. and allies hit 36 Houthi targets at 13 locations in Yemen, the Pentagon said Saturday. On Friday, the U.S. struck facilities in Iraq and Syria, as part of a broader campaign that U.S officials say is in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three American soldiers. The U.S. says it struck Iran-backed proxies in each country
The Pentagon said the U.K., Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand were involved in Saturday’s strikes against Houthi targets, saying they were in response to Houthi attacks targeting international shipping vessels.
U.S. Central Command said strikes targeted “multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters” used by the Houthis.
The current round of U.S. strikes is more extensive and deadly than those from the previous few months.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the Houthis will “continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels.”
The attacks come in response to a drone attack on a U.S. support base in Jordan on Jan. 28 that killed three Army Reserve soldiers. An Iranian-backed militia group claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the highest death toll of U.S. troops in the Middle East in at least a decade.