Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an anti-ship ballistic missile on Friday in retaliation for overnight American and British strikes targeting the Iran-backed rebels, a US general said.
“We know that they have fired at least one missile in retaliation” but it did not hit a vessel, Director of the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims told journalists.
“Their rhetoric has been pretty strong and pretty high. I would expect that they will attempt to some sort of retaliation,” he said of the Houthis.
The assessment of damage from the strikes by the United States and Britain — which targeted nearly 30 locations using more than 150 munitions — is still ongoing, Sims said, noting however that the number of casualties is not expected to be high.
“Every target we struck last night was associated with a capability that has been employed in denying freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” he said.