US launches another retaliatory airstrike against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen

The U.S. launched another retaliatory strike against Houthi militants in Yemen on Friday following Thursday's large-scale airstrikes, according to U.S. Central Command.

The airstrike targeted a Houthi radar site and was a direct response to the launch earlier in the day of an anti-ship fired at a ship in the Gulf of Aden that fell harmlessly into the water.

«At 3:45 a.m. (Sana’a time) on Jan 13., U.S. forces conducted a strike against a Houthi radar site in Yemen,» CENTCOM said in a statement issued after the airstrike.

«This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,» it added.

Friday's missed missile attack is now considered the 28th Houthi attack on commercial shipping using drones and missiles since mid-November.

On Thursday night, the U.S. struck 28 Houthi locations in Yemen associated with the drone and missile attacks targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

U.S. officials said the sites were struck by Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by U.S. Navy destroyers, British warplanes, and U.S. Navy fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower.

Houthi officials had vowed to retaliate against the U.S. following Thursday's strikes.

Speaking with reporters Friday afternoon on a trip to Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden called the strikes a "success" and said the U.S. will continue to respond if the Houthis keep up their «outrageous behavior.»

In a statement issued Thursday, Biden warned the Houthis that he would «not hesitate to direct further measures to protect