A Navy aviation boatswain’s mate on March 13, 2025, directs an F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 11 to an aircraft catapult on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON — U.S. strikes on Houthis in Yemen are ongoing daily and will continue until the Iran-backed terrorists stop attacking military and merchant vessels transiting shipping lanes in and near the Red Sea, Pentagon officials said Monday.
“There is a very clear end state to this operation, and that begins the moment that the Houthis pledge to stop attacking our ships and putting American lives at risk,” Sean Parnell, the top Defense Department spokesman, said during the first Pentagon news briefing since President Donald Trump took office for his second term.
U.S. Central Command on Saturday began attacking Houthi targets with more than 30 targets struck, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, director of operations for the Joint Staff. The barrage of strikes in Yemen, Parnell and Grynkewich said, are ongoing daily.
“The Houthis could stop this tomorrow, if they said we’re going to stop shooting at your people, but they’ve clearly chosen not to do that, and so this campaign will be relentless to degrade their capability and to open up shipping lanes in the region and to defend our homeland,” Parnell said.
For years, the Houthis have targeted ships transiting Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the world’s most used shipping routes as it bridges the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. But in the past year, the Houthis have ramped up their attacks, sinking two vessels in what they call acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel has been at war with Hamas militants, another Iranian ally.
The Houthis have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks since October 2023, targeting American and allied ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, according to the Defense Department.
The U.S. Navy has maintained a carrier strike group in the Middle East since November 2023, when the Houthis upped their assault on military and merchant ships. Navy forces have fired more than 200 missiles against those attacks since the Houthis began their campaign in the strategic waterway in November 2023. Destroyers and cruisers also have fired more than 150 artillery rounds, said Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, commander of Naval Surface Forces.
The attacks stopped when an Israel-Hamas ceasefire took hold in January — a day before Trump took office. But last week, the Houthis said they would renew attacks against Israeli vessels after Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza this month.
Trump on Saturday vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Houthis cease their attacks and warned Iran would be held “fully accountable” for their actions.
At least one Houthi drone facility was targeted in the U.S. airstrikes Saturday, which killed several people, Grynkewich said.
“Those were key individuals who led their unmanned aerial vehicle enterprise and were some of the technical experts in there,” he said.
Grynkewich said the number of people killed in the U.S. airstrikes in Yemen during the past three days is not yet known, but he estimated it could be dozens of Houthi rebels. He said Yemenis civilians are not believed to be among the deaths.
In response to the attack, the Houthis fired 11 drones and at least one missile in a period of about 12 hours, an official told The Associated Press.
Ten of the drones were intercepted by U.S. Air Force fighter jets, and one was intercepted by a Navy F/A-18 fighter jet. The missile fell into the water far from the ship, and nothing came close to hitting either the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman or the warships in its strike group.
Parnell and Grynkewich confirmed the Houthis did respond to Saturday’s airstrikes, but Grynkewich added, “It’s hard to tell because while we’re executing precision strikes, they missed by over 100 miles.”
“There’s also been a number of other attempts to interdict vessels in the Red Seas using [drones] and some cruise missiles, as well. All of those have been easily defeated by our fighter aircraft,” Grynkewich said.
Parnell echoed Trump’s social media post that the U.S. is using and will continue to use “overwhelming lethal force” by conducting airstrikes daily.
He did not rule out U.S. ground forces in Yemen but said operational security prohibited him from discussing the topic.
“With that said, and this is a very important point, this is also not an endless offensive,” Parnell said. “This is not about regime change in the Middle East. This is about putting American interests first.”
