Jake Sullivan A CNN In an interview with television news, President Joe Biden was clear about the weekend attacks. The US President said: “This is the beginning of the American response.” It was noted that a week ago, American soldiers were killed in a drone attack launched by Iraqi militias on a forward base in Jordan.
But the advisor did not confirm whether “additional steps” would mean launching air strikes against Iranian-backed Islamist groups operating in Iraq and Syria.
On Friday, the US Air Force attacked a total of 85 targets in 7 locations in Syria and Iraq, among other places, with B-1-B heavy bombers as the beginning of retaliatory strikes. Military officials announced over the weekend that in 84 cases the target was destroyed or damaged.
According to the official announcement, the targets included warehouses for armed groups, underground facilities, in addition to sites directly under the control of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Saturday, US and British units carried out air strikes against a total of 30 targets in Yemen, including 20 command centers and underground weapons depots, in addition to other offensive facilities. It is not clear whether the joint US-UK military action is part of US retaliation, or whether it was a pre-emptive step taken specifically to protect international shipping.
Yemeni Houthis recently launched a number of attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea regions, disrupting an important shipping route for global trade.
The spokesman for the Houthi forces responded to the attacks on social media, on Sunday, by saying that “escalation is met with escalation,” and stressed that destroying the Houthis’ military capabilities is not easy to destroy.
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