US Central Command said it struck two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch.
The US military has struck three facilities in Iraq and two anti-ship missiles in Yemen operated by Iranian-backed militias that have continued to instigate attacks on US personnel and ships in the region.
Both the strikes in Iraq and Yemen targeted sites that the US has said are involved in the attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria and were threatening US military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the measures in Iraq were directed through President Joe Biden and targeted services used by the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah defense force and other affiliated groups. to Iran in Iraq.
“These precision measures are a direct reaction to a series of escalating attacks against US and coalition workforces in Iraq and Syria through Iranian-sponsored militias,” Austin said.
The moves hit defense force installations in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, al-Qaim and some other unidentified facilities in western Iraq, two US officials said.
On Tuesday night, US Central Command announced that it had also attacked two Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed towards the southern Red Sea and in a launch position.
“U.S. forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region,” Central Command said.
Both fronts – ground attacks in Iraq and Syria, and sea attacks from Yemen – have seen a significant increase in launches and counterattacks in recent days.
In Iraq, the US action against Kataib Hezbollah sites came hours after the US said militants fired two one-way attack drones at al-Asad air base, wounding US military personnel and damaging infrastructure.
And they followed the militia’s most serious attack on the air base this year, when it launched several ballistic missiles on Saturday.
US Central Command said it targeted Kataib Hezbollah headquarters, garage and sites for rocket, missile and one-way attack drone capabilities.
In Tuesday’s drone attacks against al-Asad, US defences were able to intercept the first drone but it crashed on base and the second drone hit the base, US officials said.
The injuries, other than head trauma and smoke inhalation, are believed to be minor. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide the main points that had been publicly announced.
Tuesday’s moves on Houthi missile launch sites in Yemen were a joint operation Monday night in which the United States and the United Kingdom used Tomahawk missiles and ship-launched fighter jets and submarines to destroy garage sites, Houthi drones and missile launchers.
A coalition of militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has taken credit for a number of the attacks on US forces. Kataib Hezbollah is one of the groups within that umbrella organisation.
Iran also has ballistic missiles for the Houthis.