US military launches fresh barrage of missiles against Houthi sites in Yemen

US military has fired another wave of ship and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, multiple US officials said.

It marks the fourth time it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israelhamas war continues to spill over in the Middle East.

The strikes were launched from the Red Sea and hit more than a dozen sites, the officials said.

They followed an official announcement on Wednesday that the US has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists.

The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing.

Houthi-run al-masirah TV said on Telegram that the strikes targeted the governorates of Dhamar, Hodieda, Taiz, al-bayda and Saada. Despite the sanctions and military strikes, including a largescale operation last Friday carried out by US and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis are continuing their harassment campaign of commercial and military ships.

The latest incident occurred when an attack drone struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, Us-owned and operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

The US has also strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis.

A US raid last week intercepted ballistic missile parts the US said Iran was shipping to Yemen.

Two US Navy Seals remain unaccounted for.

On Wednesday, Pentagon press secretary Major Genthe eral Pat Ryder said the US would continue to take military action to prevent further attacks.

He said: “They are exploiting this situation to conduct attacks against the ships and vessels from more than 50 countries... around the world.

“And so we’re going to continue to work with our partners in the region to prevent those attacks or deter those attacks in the future.”

There have been several incidents since the Friday joint operations.