US carries out new airstrike against Houthis in Yemen

The U.S. has carried out another airstrike targeting a Houthi missile facility in Yemen, according to three U.S. officials.

What was called a self-defense strike targeted four Houthi ballistic missiles that were prepared to launch and posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships, according to two of the U.S officials.

On Thursday night, the U.S. and United Kingdom used Tomahawk missiles and fighter aircraft to strike at nearly 30 Houthi locations associated with the Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping.

The U.S. carried out a second night of retaliatory strikes on Friday night following a Houthi missile attack on a commercial that failed after the missile landed in the ocean.

News of the new airstrike was first reported by Reuters.

The airstrikes follows two days of continued Houthi attacks on commercial ships off the Red Sea bringing to more than 30 the number of Houthi drone and missile attacks there and in the Gulf of Aden since mid-November.

On Monday M/V Gibraltar Eagle. a U.S.-owned and operated container ship sailing in the Gulf of Aden was struck with an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command. There were no injuries and there was no significant damage to the vessel which continued on its voyage.

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trading Operations, which is run by the Royal Navy and provides updates on maritime security in the region reported that a vessel had been «hit above the water line, there are no fires and no casualties» and the ship continued sailing toward its destination.

A U.S. defense official confirmed that an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen had struck M/V Zografia, a Maltese flagged bulk carrier,