US carries out new airstrike against Houthis in Yemen

The U.S. has carried out another airstrike targeting a Houthi missile facility in Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command.

"At approximately, 4:15 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen," said a statement issued by U.S. Central Command.

The third U.S. military strike against Houthi targets was launched because the four missiles posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships, according to two U.S officials.

On Thursday night, the U.S. and United Kingdom used Tomahawk missiles and fighter aircraft to strike at nearly 30 Houthi locations associated with the Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping.

The U.S. carried out a second night of retaliatory strikes on Friday night following a Houthi missile attack on a commercial that failed after the missile landed in the ocean.

News of the new airstrike was first reported by Reuters.

The airstrikes follows two days of continued Houthi attacks on commercial ships off the Red Sea bringing to more than 30 the number of Houthi drone and missile attacks there and in the Gulf of Aden since mid-November.

On Monday M/V Gibraltar Eagle. a U.S.-owned and operated container ship sailing in the Gulf of Aden was struck with an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command. There were no injuries and there was no significant damage to the vessel which continued on its voyage.

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trading Operations, which is run by the Royal Navy and provides updates on maritime security in the region reported that a vessel had been "hit above the water line, there are no fires and no casualties" and the ship continued sailing toward its destination.

CENTCOM later confirmed that an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen had struck M/V Zografia, a Maltese flagged bulk carrier, sailing in the southern Red Sea.

The Houthis also claimed in a statement released a statement that they had targeted the ship "after the ship’s crew rejected warning calls, including fiery warning messages.

On Tuesday CENTCOM disclosed that two U.S. Navy SEALs who went missing during a nighttime ship boarding in the Gulf of Aden were part of an operation that seized components for Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missiles that have been used in the Houthi attacks on shipping.

The search for the missing SEALs is continuing.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Tomahawk missiles were not used in the most recent U.S. strike.