BREAKING: US attacks Yemen

[MikeWB]

We're inching closer and closer to WW3 lads.


The US military has carried out a series of "limited self-defence strikes" in Yemen, the Pentagon has announced. The attack, authorized by President Obama, was carried out in retaliation to recent attacks on the US naval destroyer, USS Mason.
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Yemen unrest

According to the Pentagon's initial assessments, three "radar sites" in the Houthi rebel-controlled area of Yemen were destroyed in the attack.

The attack on coastal targets was carried out by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the destroyer USS Nitze, NPR reported. According to US officials all targets were "in remote areas, where there was little risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage."

"These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway," the statement reads.

    'Strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation' https://t.co/UC6Vdh4z4ypic.twitter.com/mmHxBXp600
    — RT America (@RT_America) October 13, 2016

President Barack Obama authorized the strikes on the recommendation of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

The US military vowed to respond to "any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic."

READ MORE: US Navy claims destroyer targeted again by Yemen missiles

Earlier on Wednesday, USS Mason fell under fire for the second time in four days. At least one rocket was fired at the destroyer, causing "no damage to the ship or its crew," Cook said.

Until now Washington, a major ally of Saudi Arabia, has limited its engagement in Yemen to intelligence sharing, reconnaissance and aerial refueling of Saudi-led coalition jets. The US has also supplied weapons to Saudi Arabia.


Fragments of US-supplied munitions were recently found at the scene of a Saudi strike on a mourning hall in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

Human Rights groups have repeatedly criticized the US and the UK for supplying arms to Saudi Arabia which continues to bomb civilian targets in Yemen. Critics continue to accuse the Saudi-led coalition of using cluster munitions, which are banned in most countries.

Last year Noble Peace Prize winner President Barack Obama authorized US forces to provide support to the Saudi-led coalition by creating a "Joint Planning Cell." The State Department admitted to providing the Saudis with "intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, advisory and logistical support".

"As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation centre," Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said in April 2015.

However, in light of heavy civilian casualties and international pressure, Washington has promised to "reconsider" its assistance to Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia, along with eight Arab state allies, began a military operation in Yemen in March of 2015 at the request of Yemeni President Hadi, a Sunni, who fled the country after Shiite Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sana'a. The rebels recognize Abdullah Saleh, the country's previous president who was forced to step down back in 2012.

A UN-backed peace process to end the civil war has so far yielded few results. The war has so far killed an estimated 10,000 people, nearly half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.
https://www.rt.com/usa/362582-yemen-radar-sites-airstrikes/

[rmstock]

US missiles launched after ship targeted from Yemen for second time in a week
By Phil Stewart , OCTOBER 13 2016 - 4:21PM
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/second-us-navy-destroyer-targeted-in-yemen-20161012-gs12dz.html

  "Washington: The US military launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday
   to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by
   Iran-backed Houthi forces, retaliating after failed missile attacks
   this week on a US Navy destroyer, officials said.
   
   The strikes, authorised by US President Barack Obama, represent
   Washington's first direct military action against suspected
   Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen's conflict.
   
   [video] Iran vessels 'intercept' US ship
   A US defense official confirms four Iranian vessels 'harassed' a US
   warship near the Strait of Hormuz.
   
   Still, the Pentagon appeared to stress the limited nature of the
   strikes, which were aimed at radar that enabled the launch of at least
   three missiles against the destroyer USS Mason since Sunday.
   
   "These limited self-defence strikes were conducted to protect our
   personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation," Pentagon
   spokesman Peter Cook said.
   
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   US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the destroyer
   USS Nitze launched the Tomahawk cruise missiles.
   
   
   
   The failed missile attacks on the USS Mason - the latest of which took
   place on Wednesday - appeared to be part of the reaction to a suspected
   Saudi-led strike on mourners gathered in Yemen's capital Sanaa, which
   the Houthis and their allies hold.
   
   The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognised government
   of Yemeni President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi, denied any involvement in
   Sunday's attempt to strike the USS Mason.
   
   
   The destroyer the USS Mason sails in the Suez canal in Ismailia, Egypt.
   Photo: AP
   
   But US officials said there were growing indications that Houthi
   fighters, or forces aligned with them, were responsible for Sunday's
   attempted strikes, in which two coastal cruise missiles designed to
   target ships failed to reach the destroyer.
   
   The missile incidents, along with an October 1 strike on a vessel from
   the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for
   military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's
   busiest shipping routes.
   
   The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh,
   have the support of many army units and control most of the north,
   including the capital, Sanaa.
   
   The rebels appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct the
   missile attack on the warship.
   
   The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar
   station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also "painted" the USS
   Mason, something that would have helped the Houthi fighters pass along
   coordinates for a strike, the officials have said.
   
   Reuters "