U.S. launches third airstrike against Houthis in Yemen

Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The United States launched a third round of airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday, following a missile strike on a U.S. bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden.

The U.S. airstrikes targeted Houthi military sites, including a missile site. The site housed ballistic missiles that U.S. officials said posed a threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels.

The Houthis earlier had warned of further attacks in response to airstrikes by American and British warplanes in recent days.

The navy units of the Yemeni Armed Forces fired "a number of appropriate naval missiles," scoring a direct hit on the Gibraltar Eagle, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Monday in a statement carried on social media.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that a response to the American and British attacks is inevitably coming, and that any new attack will not remain without response and punishment," Saree said.

He added all American and British ships and warships participating in the "aggression against our country" were considered hostile targets that were in the rebel group's sights.

Saree reiterated the Yemeni armed forces would continue to target commercial vessels directly or indirectly servicing Israel until the "aggression stopped and the siege of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted."

No injuries or significant damage to the Gibraltar Eagle were reported in Monday's attack and the 36,000-ton vessel is continuing its voyage to Egypt's Suez Port, but the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a fresh, indefinite alert warning of further "potential retaliatory attacks by Houthi Forces."

"There continues to be a high degree of risk to commercial vessels transiting the Southern Red Sea between 12 degrees North and 16 degrees North," the DOT's Maritime Administration said.

"While the decision to transit remains at the discretion of individual vessels and companies, it is recommended that U.S. flag and U.S.-owned commercial vessels remain North of 18 degrees North in the Red Sea or East of 46 degrees East in the Gulf of Aden until further notice."

After weeks of warnings to halt their attacks on shipping off the coast of Yemen, the United States and Britain unleashed major airstrikes against military targets of the Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday night, with follow-up raids overnight Friday.

The airstrikes hit drone, ballistic and cruise missile launch facilities and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities across Houthi-controlled areas of the country.

On Sunday, U.S. fighter jets shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from the Houthi-controlled Hudaydah coast of Yemen toward the American destroyer USS Laboon as it was patrolling the southern Red Sea.