Middle East
Navy, Air Force planes, including stealth bomber, strike Houthi weapons depots
Stars and Stripes
October 17, 2024
U.S. airstrikes against Houthi weapons facilities in Yemen on Oct. 16, 2024, included a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. (Samantha White/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. forces hit weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Wednesday with “multiple precision airstrikes,” including use of a B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bomber, according to a U.S. Central Command news release.
The hardened, underground facilities held “advanced conventional weapons used to target U.S. international and civilian vessels” in international waters of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Central Command said. The storage sites held missiles, weapons components and other munitions, the command said.
“These actions were taken to degrade the Houthis’ capability to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks … and to degrade their ability to threaten regional partners,” the release states.
The Iranian-backed Houthi insurgents earlier this year mounted a campaign of drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping and allied warships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis claim solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel’s now year-old invasion of Gaza.
Air Force and Navy assets were employed in the strike Wednesday, according to the release.
“The employment of the B-2 bomber demonstrates U.S. global strike capabilities to reach these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere,” the release states.
The strike took place as Israel continues fighting Iranian-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza and plans a possible strike against Iran in retaliation for its Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel.
Battle damage assessments do not indicate civilian casualties, according to Central Command.