The US attacks Houthi arms depots in Yemen

U.S. B-2 bombers and other aircraft have struck five underground Houthi weapons depots in parts of Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed rebel group, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

The facilities, which officials said were hardened, housed “various weapons components of the type that the Houthis have used to attack civilian and military vessels throughout the region,” Austin said.

Houthi rebels have attacked civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The group was suspected in an attack in August.

The strikes marked the first time the U.S. has used B-2 bombers, also known as stealth bombers, in attacks against the Houthis in Yemen, a U.S. official told NBC News.

“This was a unique demonstration of the United States' ability to target facilities that our adversaries want to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried, fortified or fortified,” Austin said in a statement.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed militia that has taken over part of Yemen, began firing rockets and drones and other attacks on ships in response to the war in Gaza. The Houthis have announced their support for the terrorist group Hamas.

Goods worth a trillion US dollars flow through the Red Sea every year. Some shipping companies responded to the attacks late last year by suspending their Red Sea services.

In response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, the United States carried out airstrikes against Houthi weapons for the first time in January.

Austin said he authorized the strikes Wednesday at the direction of President Joe Biden.

Austin said the attacks were aimed at “further impacting the Houthis' ability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend U.S. forces and personnel in one of the world's most critical waterways.”

The Houthis captured the capital Sanaa in Yemen in 2014. The protracted conflict has led to extreme hardship. The United Nations has called Yemen's humanitarian crisis the world's largest and says more than 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.