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First extensive air strikes in Iraq and Syria. Now another military action against Houthi targets in Yemen: The USA and its partners are applying pressure against pro-Iranian militias in the Middle East. The American military, together with international partners, shelled Houthi positions in Yemen. Together with the British military and supported by other nations, 36 targets of the Iran-backed Houthi militia were attacked in 13 locations in Yemen, the US Department of Defense said in Washington.

In a joint statement from the USA, Great Britain and other countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, it was said that the targets were weapons depots, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems and radar devices. It is the third joint British-American military operation against the militia in recent weeks.

"These precision strikes aim to disrupt and weaken the Houthis' capabilities to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent seafarers, and are a response to a series of illegal, dangerous and destabilizing actions by the Houthis," it said message further. Just a few hours earlier, the US regional command told Centcom that the US military had once again destroyed several Houthis drones and missiles in Yemen.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted merchant ships on the Red Sea since the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas began in October. The militia is acting in solidarity with Hamas and is targeting freighters with alleged Israeli connections off the Yemeni coast.

Only on Saturday night did the US military carry out an extensive retaliatory strike against pro-Iranian militia positions in Iraq and Syria. US forces bombed more than 85 targets at seven locations in both countries from the air - including command centers, intelligence sites and weapons depots that, according to US information, were used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and militias affiliated with them. The Americans were reacting to a deadly attack by pro-Iranian militias a few days earlier in which three American soldiers were killed in Jordan near the Syrian border.

kev/dpa