US strikes Houthi missile preparing to launch towards Red Sea from Yemen

Sanaa [Yemen], March 2 (ANI): The United States military said that it conducted a self-defence strike against Iranian-backed Houthi surface-to-air missile in Yemen on Friday (local time).
According to the US Central Command, the missile was prepared to be launched from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea and presented an 'imminent threat' to US aircraft in the Red Sea
It added that one anti-ship ballistic missile was launched by the Houthis, but there was "no impact or damage to any vessels."
"On March 1, at approximately 12:40 pm (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a self-defense strike against one Iranian-backed Houthi surface-to-air missile that was prepared to launch from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea. CENTCOM forces identified the missile and determined it presented an imminent threat to U.S. aircraft in the region," US Central Command posted on X.
"At 10:46 pm (Sanaa time), the Houthis launched one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) from Yemen into the Red Sea. There was no impact or damage to any vessels," it added.
CENTCOM/status/1763772408870097224?s=20" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1763772408870097224?s=20
The strikes come amid heightened tensions in the region, where Houthi fighters have carried out attacks on commercial and military shipping since November.
The Houthis initially said that they would target Israel-linked ships in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, but later expanded their targets to include vessels linked to the United Kingdom and the US, Al Jazeera reported.
Earlier this week, US Central Command has said that US aircraft and a coalition warship shot down five Iranian-backed Houthi one-way attack (OWA) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the Red Sea on Tuesday between 9:50 pm (Sanaa time) to 10:55 pm (Sanaa time).
Last month, US forces and the United Kingdom Armed Forces, with the support of several other countries, conducted strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen.
The joint strikes, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, were conducted on February 25 at 11:50 pm.
According to US Central Command, the goal of this multi-national effort is to defend their own countries, their partners, and allies in the region and restore freedom of navigation by destroying Houthi capabilities used to threaten US and partner forces in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.
Faced with mounting Red Sea insecurity, major shipping lines have largely abandoned the critical trade route for longer routes around Africa. This has increased costs, feeding worries about global inflation while sapping Egypt of crucial foreign revenue from shippers using the Suez Canal to or from the Red Sea, as reported by Al Jazeera. (ANI)