US, UK stage multiple airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen

The U.S. and U.K. on Monday staged airstrikes against eight locations in Yemen aimed at stopping Iran-backed Houthi militants from attacking ships in the Red Sea.

The White House has insisted the retaliatory airstrikes — eight rounds so far — have been effective despite repeated Houthi attacks.

U.S. Central Command said Monday airstrikes took place at 11:59pm Sanaa time and targeted «missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities» and that they were separate from the multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect ships in the Red Sea.

The strike on the underground storage facility marked the first time the U.S. had struck such a facility that they said housed more advanced conventional weaponry than was struck in the initial strike on Jan. 11 said senior U.S. military officials in a briefing with reporters.

The selection of Monday's targets was characterized by the officials as «very specific» and «very deliberate» and said they stored missiles and drones.

As was the case in the Jan. 11 airstrike a senior U.S. military official said the airstrike involved a mix of American and British fighter aircraft along with ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, the American fighter jets had taken off from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower that is currently deployed to the Red Sea.

«At this point, we do assess that the strike was successful and achieved the desired effect,” said a senior U.S. defense official who said the strikes would help remove „significant” portions of the Houthi’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.. However, the officials acknowledged that while Monday's strikes had an impact on the