Yemen strikes back, pounding the USS Eisenhower

Throughout the past period, Sanaa has consistently targeted battleships and destroyers with missiles and drones. Yet the strike on Eisenhower signifies a qualitative leap in the confrontation, regardless of whether the US acknowledges the hit.

Swift response from Sanaa 

On Friday, 30 May, hours after Yemeni military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced a series of military operations as part of the fourth phase of escalation, Ansarallah downed a $30 million American MQ-9 drone, the sixth during the “Al-Fateh Al-Mubin” operation.

In retaliation, the US launched a series of airstrikes at dawn, targeting civilian facilities in the capital city of Sanaa, as well as the governorates of Hodeidah and Taiz. These strikes, the heaviest since the US–UK attacks began on 12 January of this year, killed 16 Yemenis and injured 41 others, both military and civilian.

The magnitude of the airstrikes and the resulting casualties prompted a swift and hard response from Sanaa. As part of the war’s fourth phase of escalation to support the Palestinian resistance and extend their target bank into the Mediterranean Sea, the Yemenis quickly and unexpectedly targeted the USS Eisenhower, stationed in the northern Red Sea.

The aircraft carrier, which serves as a launchpad for aggressions on Yemen and provides support for Israel’s war on Gaza, was hit again within a space of 24 hours. Additionally, a destroyer was targeted with several missiles and drones, confirming further hits.