The US military said on Sunday that the American forces reached more than 800 targets in Yemen during a continuous air campaign that started six weeks ago against the Houthi militia.
The army said the targets of the strikes, called the Rough Rider operation, included “multiple facilities for leadership and control, air defense systems, advanced arms manufacturing facilities and advanced arms storage sites.”
The army said that among the weapons and equipment in the inventories of the Americans, the American missiles and marine flights, and the types of weapons used by the Houthis against ships in the Red Sea. Details were clarified in an announcement issued by the US Central Command, which oversees military operations and forces in the Middle East.
Congress officials say the campaign costs more than a billion dollars so far, based on the closed doors brought by Pentagon officials to Congress early this month, just three weeks after the campaign. The New York Times reported In early April, the rapid rate of ammunition used in the campaign, Average anxiety Among some strategic planners in the US military.
The Houthis were shooting and firing drones at commercial and military ships in the Red Sea as a show of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and Hamas, the armed group that controlled it. The Palestinians in Gaza were attacked by Israel since Hamas had a fatal strike in southern Israel in October 2023 and took the hostages. The Israeli forces and pollutions also launched attacks against each other.
On March 15, President Trump ordered the US military to start a continuous air campaign against the Houthis, after the Biden administration carried out some strikes. Until Sunday, the US military did not openly reveal the number of targets that were struck in the Rough Rider operation.
This advertisement did not mention the civil losses. Houthi officials say more than 100 civilians have been killed. The Central Command’s declaration said that the American strikes “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and many Houthi leaders, including senior officials who oversee missiles and drones.
The army did not give the names of any Houthi leaders.
Years before the American attack, a military coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attempted to bomb the Houthis in undergoing an air campaign that lasted for nearly six years. The Saudis failed to achieve any goals while killing many civilians, and sometimes with bombs of our manufacture.
Mr. Trump, including Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, said that the purpose of the current campaign is to deter the Houthis from trying to strike in commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Central Command’s announcement repeated this logical basis on Sunday, saying that this process will disintegrate the capabilities of the Houthis as long as they continue to hinder freedom of movement.
Only a small portion of global commercial charging passes across the Red Sea. American companies are less dependent on the freight corridors there are more than European companies.
The operating pace of the Air Campaign was high. In the surroundings of Congress in early this month, Pentagon officials said they used $ 200 million of ammunition in the first three weeks only. Congress officials said that the cost of deployment of employees and the navy has cost the US taxpayer campaign more than one billion dollars in the first month.
The American military planners who connect the potential war scenarios with China in the Asia Pacific region, including the virtual Chinese military invasion of Taiwan, have been concerned about the rate of use of ammunition.
Some of the same long delicate weapons used against the Houthis are decisive by these officials to deter against China, and in a state of war, to be used in the Pacific theater. Officials are concerned that the US military will need to rely on American stocks in the Asia Pacific region if the central command maintains a rapid operational pace against the Houthis.
Some conservative foreign policy thinkers advised against strikes in Yemen. The American Governor is one post Take such a situationOn the pretext that the United States should avoid exposure to militarily intertwining in the Middle East, after decades of catastrophic wars, following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The discussions on the Yemen campaign were a major topic of no less than two group conversations in which Defense Minister Beit Higseth participated in the indication of the application of encrypted correspondence. The operating details of the air strikes participated on March 15 in both chats before the attacks took place. The New York Times reported On April 20, a chat collection included the wife of Mr. Higseth, his brother and his personal lawyer.
Mr. Higseth created that group. The other well -known group in which Mr. Higseth participated in the operational details by Mike Waltz, the White House National Security Adviser, who appears To add the highest editor by accidentally From Atlantic to chat.
Signal is a special commercial application for arrangement, and the Pentagon security experts warn against using it.
Eric Schmidt The reports contributed.
