THE US has launched a devastating B-2 Stealth Bomber attack on Houthi rebels in a stark warning to their backers in Iran.
The “invisible” radar-dodging warplanes targeted underground military bases used to launch attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping.
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And the strike was yesterday being seen as a prelude to a coming blitz of Iran to warn the Islamist state that none of its bunkers are safe.
It is the first time long-range B-2 Spirit jets have been used against Houthi terrorists, who are armed and funded by Iran’s rogue regime.
US ally Israel has similar bunker-busting power and is expected to launch strikes on Iranian military targets without US help within days.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed B-2s targeted “five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”
Austin added: “This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified.”
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel reported explosions around Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which the group has held since 2014.
They also reported strikes around the Houthi stronghold of Saada but no details on casualties or damage was released.
The US has vowed to stay on the sidelines as Israel hit back at Iran for the 180 ballistic missile barrage launched against the Jewish state on October 1.
Israel has been urged not to hit nuclear sites feared to be close to perfecting Irans’ first nuclear weapon.
But B-2 would be used in any American attack on hardened atom plants in Natanz or Fordo if the Middle East crisis escalates.
The warjet is the only aircraft in service which can deliver the world’s most potent bunker blaster – GBU-57, known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator.”
US military Central Command offered no immediate assessment of the damage done in the Yemen raid but said initial assessments suggested no civilians had been killed.
Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023, triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel.
They have seized one vessel and managed to sink two in a vicious campaign that has killed four sailors.
A US-led coalition vying to defend the Red Sea has been intercepting scores of other missiles and drones.
The rebels say that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK.
It comes as a huge blast erupted after a British ship was struck in an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Footage shows the Iran-backed militia launching an explosive-laden drone boat into a British oil tanker in the Red Sea.
The Houthi group shared the clip of a big explosion near the side of the Cordelia Moon, which damaged its port side tank and covered it in clouds of smoke.
At the beginning of October, a strike occurred approximately 110 kilometres (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen, targeting the buoyancy of a Panama-flagged oil tanker.
A captain on a neighbouring ship reported four “splashes” near the vessel, according to the centre monitored by the US Navy, which were most likely missiles launched at the vessel but missed.
The Houthis later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that eight ballistic and winged missiles, a drone, and an unmanned surface boat were used in the strike.
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About 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, a missile struck a second ship headed for Suez, a bulker flying the flag of Liberia, causing damage, according to maritime security sources and British security company Ambrey.
The crews of both vessels reported being safe.
The conflict between Israel and Lebanon has the potential to escalate into a larger regional conflict, but these attacks marked the rebels’ first on commercial vessels in weeks.
It also followed the Houthis’ threat of “escalating military operations” against Israel following the apparent downing of an American military drone over Yemen by their forces.
At the end of September, oil tanks in Yemen exploded in a massive fireball as Israel bombed the Houthi rebels in revenge strikes.
Footage showed the gigantic fireball rip shoot into the sky after IDF jets hit the fuel while it was being stored at a port.
It then dissipated into black smoke in the sky but a massive blaze continued to burn at the port and secondary strikes erupted.
Four were reportedly killed and 33 injured, local media said.
Last November, 25 forgotten sailors of the hijacked British-Israeli Galaxy Leader cargo ship were taken captive by the Houthi pirates.
The $50million vessel was hijacked by the Iran-sponsored Houthi rebels in the Red Sea on November 19.
Its entire international crew were taken hostage in what the gunmen clinging to the sides of a helicopter screamed was revenge for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The car carrier was pulled back to Hodeidah in the Houthi-controlled north of Yemen as a trophy to taunt the West and supporters of the militants flocked to the site to share in the spoils of war.
Who are the Houthis?
THE Houthi rebels have spent months terrorising the Red Sea by launching persistent missile and drone attacks on vessels and warships – but who are they?
The Shia militant group who now controls large swaths of Yemen spent over a decade being largely ignored by the world.
However, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war they sprung from relative obscurity to holding roughly £1trillion of world trade hostage – turning one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into an active warzone.
Their warped battle cry is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam”.
Why are they attacking ships?
In October, the rebel group began launching relentless drone and missile attacks on any ships – including warships – they deem to be connected with Israel in solidarity with their ally Hamas.
In reality, they targeted commercial vessels with little or no link to Israel – forcing global sea traffic to largely halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices around the world soaring.
The sea assaults added to the carnage in the Middle East tinderbox as intense ripples from Israel’s war in Gaza were felt across the region – with Iran accused of stoking the chaos.
The Houthi chiefs pledged their Red Sea attacks would continue until Israel stopped its offensive in Gaza.
The group’s chiefs have previously said their main targets are Israel, and its allies the US and Britain.
And despite repeated threats from the West and joint US and UK strikes blitzing their strongholds in Yemen – Iran’s terror proxy appears undeterred.
