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Tag: Houthi

  • Breaking: US Strikes Houthi Positions in Yemen

    Breaking: US Strikes Houthi Positions in Yemen

    Featured Image: Reported image of Hodieda port

    At the direction of the President, US forces have begun large scale strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen today. The strikes have targeted radar sites, missile launchers and drone facilities.

    It is being reported that the airport at Sana’a and the ports at Hodeida and Ras Issa have been rendered out of order by the strikes.

    The Houthi, also known as Ansar Allah, are a Shia rebel group that control parts of Yemen. They have been in a long running civil war in that country with Iran backing their co-religionists and the House of Saud backing the Yemeni government.

    President Trump issued a statement on Truth social shortly after the strikes began.

    Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.

    He concluded his statement with a warning to Iran, the primary backer of the Houthi.

    To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!

  • A Close Call in the Red Sea

    A Close Call in the Red Sea

    DDG 107 USS Gravely

    The USS Gravely had a close call with a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile on Tuesday while on patrol in the Red Sea. CENTCOM described it this way:

    On Jan. 30, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea. The missile was successfully shot down by USS Gravely (DDG 107). There were no injuries or damage reported.

    The intercept was not nearly as sanguine as the press release makes it sound. The missile got within a mile of the Burke class destroyer before it was engaged. The ship’s Phalanx CIWS system shot it down mere seconds before it would have impacted.

    The Gravely has been on-station in the Red sea for several months and has been involved in several missile intercepts.

    https://twitter.com/Schizointel/status/1752530812375814526?s=20

    The fact that the missile got within a mile of the ship is worrisome. It could mean one of several things went wrong; The AEGIS system either failed to detect the missile at all or in time to launch one of the SM-2 SAMs from the VLS; an intercept missile was fired but failed to destroy the missile for some reason; there was a command failure or they decided to engage with the CIWS either for training purposes or to conserve interceptor missiles.

    Sooner or later one of the Houthi attacks will leak through, it’s a matter of probabilities. As we’ve seen so far, the current administration will probably sit on its collective hands and do nothing when that eventuality manifests.

  • Houthis Sink a Tanker in Gulf of Aden and Give the US a Black Eye but Enjoy the Great Plot Twist

    Houthis Sink a Tanker in Gulf of Aden and Give the US a Black Eye but Enjoy the Great Plot Twist

    streiff | RedState

    A Houthi terrorist-fired anti-ship ballistic missile hit a petroleum tanker in the Gulf of Aden, and the crew was forced to abandon the ship on Friday. The British-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged 110,000-ton tanker M/T Marlin Luanda was carrying a cargo of Russian naphtha from Greece to Singapore. A second ship, the Panama-flagged 109,000-ton tanker M/T Achilles (ownership is unknown), loaded with petroleum products taken on in Prmorsk, Russia, with no revealed destination, was also targeted but completed its transit safely.

    Sal Mercogliano (@mercoglianos) has recorded the engagement from @MarineTraffic and removed the clutter of other ships. At 0:41, you can see the result of the impact as the M/T Marlin Luanda rapidly decelerates. If you are interested in what is happening in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden or shipping in general, give him a follow.

    Sal is this editors go-to for international shipping news and analysis. If you’re on the Twitter err, X, you should probably be following him.

    The crew of the M/T Marlin Luanda tried to save the ship but were overwhelmed and, according to reports, abandoned the ship. The Indian destroyer INS Visakhapatnam was first on the scene to render assistance. Since then other coalition warships have responded.

    The loss of the M/T Marlin Luanda was confirmed in an interview with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman C. Q. Brown on ABC.

    The Indian navy has announced the fires aboard are now under control. It seems they sent a specialist damage control party onboard.

    The community note is correct, the video is from a previous vessel fire and not of the M/V Marlin Luanda. As someone who chases new stories and breaking news, it’s easy to get fooled by that kind of thing.

    Earlier in the day, the USS Carney came under attack from a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile and shot it down.

    Key Points

    1. This engagement happened in the same area as the incident on Thursday in which two US-flagged and US-owned container ships and the USS Gravely were forced to beat an ignominious retreat out of missile range.

    2. The Houthis have successfully expanded the battlespace to include the northern half of the Gulf of Aden.

    3. The stories do not mention the Iranian intelligence ship MV Behshad. Still, one has to assume it is lurking in the area and providing targeting information to the Houthis.

    3. This episode makes Operation Prosperity Guardian more of a joke than it already is. A US carrier strike group in the area does no good if it cannot enforce freedom of navigation.

    4. If the pattern established over the last couple of weeks holds, the combination of a US destroyer being attacked and a civilian tanker sunk will draw a response under the aegis of Operation Poseidon Archer.

    5. We need to see if this strike will go after a few launchers or if it will hit command and control nodes that enable the Houthis to engage shipping targets.

    6. A point I’ve made consistently since this fight over the control of the Red Sea began is that Jake Sullivan and Biden’s national security team are playing not to lose, rather than to win. They are obviously afraid of offending Iran by thumping their Houthi proxies. This timidity and indecisiveness has emboldened the Houthis. The problem with the Sullivan strategy is that the US Navy has to win 100 percent of the time. The Houthis only need an occasional big day, like today. to make their point to maritime insurance companies that they should avoid the Red Sea.

    This wishy-washy, grad school style of national security planning, where responses are carefully calibrated, doesn’t work in real life. Biden has staked US prestige on keeping the Red Sea open, and it has been proven that he doesn’t have the huevos needed to do the job. It will take a generation to undo the damage he’s done.

    Original Here

    If this continues for much longer, it’s going to start to hurt. Prices for goods that would normally transit the Suez have already started to spike. The Cape routes take between 7 and 10 days longer than the Suez. Additionally, maritime insurance rates are already topping 1% of the value of the cargo on the routes that transit the Bab el Mandab strait. Normal rates are in the .2-.3% range.

    Streiff is correct that this is all on Biden and Jake Sullivan. Neither has what it takes to end this farce.

  • US and UK Strike Targets in Yemen

    US and UK Strike Targets in Yemen

    Last night US and UK forces launched strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen. This was in response to repeated attacks on shipping in the Bab el Mendeb and Red Sea. The strikes comes a day after the largest Houthi drone and missile attack in recent months.

    The entire post reads:

    Houthi Attack on International Shipping On Jan. 9, at approximately 9:15 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs (OWA UAVs), anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea, towards international shipping lanes where dozens of merchant vessels were transiting. Eighteen OWA UAVs, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile were shot down by a combined effort of F/A-18s from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Mason (DDG 87), and the United Kingdom’s HMS Diamond (D34). This is the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19. There were no injuries or damage reported. On Jan. 3, 14 countries, including the U.S, issued a joint statement stating, “The Houthis will bear the responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, or the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

    From the NY Times:

    The United States and a handful of its allies on Thursday carried out military strikes against more than a dozen targets in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, U.S. officials said, in an expansion of the war in the Middle East that the Biden administration had sought to avoid for three months.

    The American-led air and naval strikes came in response to more than two dozen Houthi drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November, and after warnings to the Houthis in the past week from the Biden administration and several international allies of serious “consequences” if the salvos did not stop.

    But the Houthis defied that ultimatum, vowing to continue their attacks in what they say is a protest against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. On Tuesday, American and British warships intercepted one of the largest barrages of Houthi drone and missile strikes yet, an assault that U.S. and other Western military officials said was the last straw.

    The White House released a statement shortly after the strikes occurred.

    Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.
     
    These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history. These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. More than 50 nations have been affected in 27 attacks on international commercial shipping. Crews from more than 20 countries have been threatened or taken hostage in acts of piracy.  More than 2,000 ships have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea—which can cause weeks of delays in product shipping times. And on January 9, Houthis launched their largest attack to date—directly targeting American ships.
     
    The response of the international community to these reckless attacks has been united and resolute. Last month, the United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian—a coalition of more than 20 nations committed to defending international shipping and deterring Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.  We also joined more than 40 nations in condemning Houthi threats. Last week, together with 13 allies and partners, we issued an unequivocal warning that Houthi rebels would bear the consequences if their attacks did not cease. And yesterday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding the Houthis end attacks on merchant and commercial vessels.
     
    Today’s defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and Houthi rebels’ escalating attacks against commercial vessels. These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.

    One thing I noticed was missing from any US statements on the strikes was any reference to Iran, the country behind the Houthi. Between that omission and the failure of POTATUS to re-designate the Houthi as a terrorist organization, it seems to me that this is all just theater, designed to bolster Joe’s poll numbers.

    Additionally, the IRGC seized a Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, “St. Nikolas”, Thursday in the Sea of Oman. The Iranians claim they had a ‘judicial order’ as backing for their piracy. This episode is different from the Houthi attacks, as it was carried out directly by the IRGC.