The Pentagon said on Wednesday that the US deployed B-2 bombers to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, marking a significant escalation of the US bombing campaign in the country.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the bombers and other US forces targeted “five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”
According to The Associated Press, the strike marked the first time the US used B-2 bombers in combat since 2017, when they were used to target ISIS fighters in Libya.
The extent of the damage is unclear, and it’s also unclear if there were any casualties. Yemeni media reported 15 air raids in the capital, Sanaa, and the northern Saada province but did not provide any other details. The attack was reported as a “US-British aggression,” but there’s no sign the UK was involved.
In his statement, Austin made clear that the strike was a message to Iran. “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,” he said.
“The employment of US Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate US global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere,” Austin added.
Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities are a potential target of Israel, but some of them have been built deep underground and could only be penetrated by the US’s heaviest bunker-busting bombs, which can only be dropped by US heavy bombers. US bunker-busters range from 2,000 pounds to 30,000 pounds, and it’s unclear which type was dropped on Yemen.
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, issued a statement vowing that the strikes would not stop the attacks they began in response to Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza. “The aggressive airstrikes will not deter Yemen from continuing its support and solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in confronting the Israeli arrogance backed by the United States,” the group said.
The US has been bombing Yemen since January, and Israel has launched two rounds of airstrikes on the country, but the attacks have done nothing to deter the Houthis. According to the Yemen Data Project, a total of 15 US and Israeli strikes hit Yemen in the month of September, resulting in 73 civilian casualties, including dead and wounded.
YDP said Israeli strikes killed five civilians and injured 57, while strikes reported as a joint US-British attack killed two civilians and wounded nine. The US-British strike hit near a girl’s school, causing a stampede that crushed two students to death. The killing of the two girls was reported by Yemeni media at the time of the strike.