The official told CNN the additional strikes carried out Friday night were much smaller in scope than the previous night. They targeted a radar facility used by the Houthis.
Later, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the destroyer USS Carney fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Houthi radar station in Yemen.
The new strikes occurred at 3:45 am local time and were “a follow-on action” to the US and UK strikes that took place the previous night.
Yemeni TV station Al-Masirah reported that the strikes were targeting the country’s capital Sanaa.
People living in the Yemeni capital took to social media to report hearing several loud explosions.
The US and Britain previously carried out air raids and launched cruise missiles at Yemen with the aim of punishing the Houthis – a group that controls part of the country, including Sanaa and the key port city of Hodeidah – for disrupting the shipping in the vital Red Sea waterway.
The Houthis have pledged solidarity with the Palestinians and vowed not to stop attacking merchant vessels until Israel ends its ongoing war with Hamas, which erupted on October 7. More than 50 countries have since been affected in 27 Houthi attacks on ships, according to the White House.
Houthi military leader Mahdi al-Mashat reiterated on Friday that the group will continue attacking Israeli-linked ships “until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians” ends.
The Houthis have fired at least one ballistic missile into the Red Sea since the initial US-UK strikes, according to Washington.
The United States is not seeking war with Yemen, but is prepared to respond decisively to Houthi assaults in the Red Sea, the White House said on Friday.
“We’re not interested in … a war with Yemen. We’re not interested in a conflict of any kind here,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.
“Everything the president has been doing has been trying to prevent any escalation of conflict, including the strikes last night,” he added.
The Pentagon has also announced that the US is prepared for potential retaliation from the Houthis but does not seek further escalation in the region.
