US retaliatory airstrikes updates: White House vows to take 'more action' after deadly drone attack
Saturday's strikes in Yemen followed ones in Iraq and Syria the day prior.
The United States on Friday began to carry out airstrikes against Iran-backed militants and Iranian military targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone attack on an American base in Jordan on Jan. 28 that killed three U.S. service members.
Dozens of other American troops were wounded in the drone attack on the Tower 22 base near Jordan's border with Iraq and Syria. The U.S. says Iran is responsible for funding and arming the militants while Iran has denied involvement.
U.S. President Joe Biden had quickly warned that America would respond forcefully, escalating U.S. involvement in the Middle East after months of trying to contain tensions from boiling over into a broader war in the region.
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What we know about the drone attack on US base in Jordan
The U.S. has attributed the drone attack on the American base in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias.
According to a U.S. official, the drone that successfully hit the base was an Iranian-made Shahed drone, similar to those used by the Russians on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Iran has denied involvement in the Jordan strike. But President Joe Biden earlier this week faulted Iran for providing munitions and funding to these different proxy groups.
The U.S. base is known as Tower 22, a major logistical hub for U.S. troops still in Syria on a mission to prevent a resurgence by Islamic State fighters. According to Central Command, there are approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed to the base.
Correction: Strikes on Houthis in Yemen not in response to attack on troops in Jordan, per US officials
The U.S. and U.K. led a coalition of strikes against Houthis in Yemen focused on degrading the Houthis capabilities in shipping attacks, US officials say, stressing that the strikes are unrelated to strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday which were in response to the attack on U.S. troops in Jordan. Earlier reporting said the attacks on Yemen were in response to the attack on U.S. troops in Jordan.
While the timing may be coincidental, both the militia groups in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis are backed by Iran, U.S. officials say. But when asked if there was an intended message for Iran as well, the U.S. officials said they did not want to focus on Iran and instead kept the discussion about how each of the airstrikes was intended to deter and degrade Iran’s local proxies.
Austin warns Houthis to end attacks on shipping vessels
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement saying the strikes on Yemen aim to "disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia" from continuing to attack vessels in the Red Sea.
The strikes targeted Houthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars, according to a statement from Austin.
"This collective action sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels," Austin said.
He added, "We will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways."
-ABC News' Nate Luna
US, UK launch strikes against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen
The militaries of the U.S. and U.K. launched strikes against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand, the countries said in a joint statement Saturday.
The strikes targeted 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea, the statement said.
"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners, and are in response to a series of illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing Houthi actions since previous coalition strikes on January 11 and 22, 2024, including the January 27 attack which struck and set ablaze the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker M/V Marlin Luanda," the statement said.
-ABC News' Nate Luna
US strikes begin in Yemen
The next round of retaliatory strikes for the attack in Jordan are ongoing in Yemen at this time, three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.
The strikes are in addition to the six anti-ship missiles that were taken out, also in Yemen, earlier in the day.
-ABC News' Nate Luna
U.S. strikes in Iraq killed at least 16 and wounded 25: Iraqi government
U.S. strikes in Iraq killed at least 16 people and wounded 25 others, the Iraqi government confirmed in an official statement.
"The American administration committed a new aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq, as the locations of our security forces, in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, as well as neighboring civilian places, were bombed by several American aircraft," said the Iraqi government. "This blatant aggression led to 16 martyrs, including civilians, in addition to 25 wounded. It also caused losses and damage to residential buildings and citizens’ property."
The Iraqi government also said the strikes would "put security in Iraq and the region on the brink of the abyss" and that they directly contradict the United States effort to "establish the required stability" in the region.
