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U.S. and U.K. conduct airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen
The U.S. and U.K together conducted strikes for a second time this month against Houthi targets in Yemen, two U.S. defense officials told CBS News.
The strikes were launched against eight Houthi targets and conducted with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, U.S. Central Command said in a statement Monday evening.
“The targets included missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities,” CENTCOM said, adding that the strikes were intended to “degrade Houthi capability to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks on U.S. and U.K. ships as well as international commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.”
Earlier this month, with support from other countries, the U.S. and U.K. targeted just under 30 locations in Yemen with more than 150 precision-guided munitions.
In total, the U.S. has conducted eight rounds of airstrikes, including Monday’s, against Houthi targets to retaliate for the group’s continued attacks on commercial shipping.
Monday’s strikes were successful and had “good impacts” on targets, a U.S. official told CBS News. The official said it was unknown if there were any casualties among the Houthis.
The strikes were launched from air, surface and subsurface platforms and included Tomahawk land attack missiles as well as manned aircraft from the U.S.S. Eisenhower, the official said.
The underground storage facilities contained more advanced weaponry than previously targeted sites, the official added.
U.S. officials also said the Houthis still “remain capable” of conducting attacks against shipping but this and previous strikes have “definitely degraded their ability to conduct maritime attacks.”
The Iran-backed Houthis have launched over 30 attacks in commercial shipping lanes since November. Although no one has been seriously injured, the attacks have led some shipping companies to direct their ships away from the Red Sea.
The Houthis have not been able to successfully launch an attack since Jan. 18, although it’s not for lack of trying. In two cases over the weekend, the U.S. struck Houthi missiles as the missiles were being prepared to launch, according to statements from U.S. Central Command.
Those two strikes were part of five preemptive strikes the U.S. took over the course of five days last week. A U.S. official previously told CBS News that the initial strikes the U.S. conducted with the U.K. destroyed enough of the Houthis’ air defense capabilities to enable more extensive U.S. surveillance over Yemen, making it possible to see what the Houthis are preparing.
The Houthis started launching attacks at commercial ships, according to Houthi spokespeople, to protest the war in Gaza, but many of the ships they’ve targeted have no connection to Israel or Israel’s war, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. initially avoided striking the Houthis directly, in large part because of the Biden administration’s focus on preventing Israel’s war with Hamas from turning into a wider conflict.
The Pentagon in December announced an international task force called “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” which is composed of about 20 countries that are set to act as a kind of highway patrol on the Red Sea, providing extra support to commercial ships if needed, according to the Defense Department.
That international effort is still in place, but the U.S. has apparently decided that direct military action against Houthi targets remains a necessity.
—David Martin contributed reporting.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.