US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday issued a statement summarizing its military campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen.
Since March 15, the statement said, CENTCOM forces have conducted "an intense and sustained campaign" under Operation Rough Rider, striking over 800 Houthi targets.
According to CENTCOM, these efforts have been guided by "detailed and comprehensive intelligence ensuring lethal effects against the Houthis while minimizing risk to civilians."
The campaign has significantly degraded Houthi capabilities, the statement said. CENTCOM reported that "hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials," have been killed.
Additionally, US forces have destroyed vital infrastructure, including command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, and advanced weapons manufacturing and storage sites, it said.
These facilities, CENTCOM revealed, housed "advanced conventional weapons, including anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems, and uncrewed surface vessels" used by the Houthis to threaten international shipping lanes.
Despite continued Houthi attacks, CENTCOM highlighted notable success in degrading their operational tempo. "Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69%," while attacks from one-way drones "have decreased by 55%," the statement said.
Iran’s role in supporting the Houthis remains a critical concern. CENTCOM asserted, "The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime."
US forces pledged to maintain pressure until their objectives are met. "We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region," CENTCOM affirmed.
The renewed US military campaign against the Houthis aims to curb Houthi threats against American naval forces and Israel-linked targets.
President Donald Trump recently stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated" and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis' destruction.
Trump later said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.