US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said it is time to further disable Iran-backed militias who have struck at American forces and ships in the Middle East and Washington is preparing to take significant action in response to the deaths of three service members in Jordan.
For days the US has hinted strikes are imminent. While the threat of retaliation for Sunday’s deaths has driven some militant groups to say they were stopping hostilities, on Thursday Yemen’s Houthi rebels were still attacking vessels and fired a ballistic missile at a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Red Sea.
“At this point, it’s time to take away even more capability than we’ve taken in the past,” Mr Austin said on Thursday in his first press conference since he was admitted to hospital on January 1 due to complications from prostate cancer treatment.
Previous US strikes have not deterred the attacks. Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, Iranian-backed militant groups have struck US bases in Iraq and Syria at least 166 times with rockets, missiles and one-way attack drones, drawing about half a dozen US counter strikes on militant facilities in both countries.
The US military has also carried out air strikes targeting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Washington has attributed the attack on Tower 22 in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah.
While Iran has denied involvement, Mr Austin said on Thursday that “how much Iran knew or didn’t know, we don’t know. But it really doesn’t matter because Iran sponsors these groups”, adding that “without that facilitation, these kinds of things don’t happen”.
He said the Pentagon is still looking at the forensics of the drone that struck Tower 22, a secretive base in north-eastern Jordan which has been crucial to the American presence in neighbouring Syria.
“I don’t think the adversaries are of a ‘one and done’ mindset. And so they have a lot of capability,” Mr Austin said. “We’re going to do what’s necessary to protect our troops.”
In the Red Sea, the Houthis have fired on commercial and military ships almost 40 times since November. In the latest attack, they fired a ballistic missile at a Liberian-flagged container ship on Thursday, US defence officials said.
The attack happened west of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen long held by the rebels, said UK Maritime Trade Operations, a British military group overseeing Middle East waterways. It said the crew and the vessel were safe and the blast came far off the vessel’s starboard side.
UKMTO Warning Incident 026 update 001
ATTACKhttps://t.co/XsgrK5uW2N
UKMTO has received a report of an incident 57NM west of Al Hudaydah, Yemen. Master reports an explosion a distance off the vessel’s starboard side. Vessel and crew are safe.#Marimesecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/7y1GK8rFQ6— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) February 1, 2024
US defence officials identified the targeted container ship as the Koi, a Bermuda-owned vessel. Its management could not be immediately reached for comment. The Houthis did not claim responsibility for the assault.
Private security firm Ambrey reported on Wednesday night that a ship had been targeted with a missile south west of Aden, Yemen, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis claimed that attack also targeted the Koi, though American officials had no immediate information on any attack on Wednesday night.
Also on Thursday, US Central Command said it had destroyed two more Houthi-fired drones. One overhead drone, was shot down in the Gulf of Aden, and an uncrewed surface vehicle, a drone that travels through water, was “determined to be an imminent threat” and was struck in self defence in the Red Sea, Central Command said.
The Houthis say they are targeting ships over Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas, but they have frequently targeted vessels with no clear links to Israel, threatening shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The Houthis hit a commercial vessel with a missile on January 26, sparking a fire that burned for hours.
Late on Wednesday, American F/A-18 fighter jets struck and destroyed 10 Houthi drones that were prepared to launch, as well as a ground control station used by the rebels, the US military said.
The US also intercepted a ballistic missile and other drones already in the air during the day.
