The United States has launched a new military attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen, following the large-scale military action carried out on Friday in a joint mission with the United Kingdomconfirmed the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). The additional attacks carried out this Friday night had a shorter range than those launched the previous day and were directed at a radar used by the rebels.

Military action was deployed from naval destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) at 3:45 a.m. on January 13 Sana’a time (00:45 GMT) in which Tomahawk land attack missiles were used, CENTCOM explained. The command detailed that this was “a follow up action against a specific military objective” associated with yesterday’s attacks designed to degrade the capabilities of Houthis to attack ships.

Houthi rebels had fired at least one ballistic missile against a commercial ship sailing in the Red Sea early Friday after U.S. and British military forces launched 73 bombing raids against their military positions in several provinces in Yemen, leaving five casualties in their ranksaccording to the insurgents.

CENTCOM did not explain whether the second day of military actions against the rebels was released solo by the US, or had the support of other nations as was the case with yesterday’s operations. But he warned that the military operations on Thursday and Friday are completely separate from the measures taken by the military coalition made up of more than 20 nations under the name ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’, launched at the end of December.

The two actions are part of a strong escalation of operations military to stop attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which rebel militia say are carried out in support of Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

Lieutenant Douglas Sims, director of operations of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed this Friday in a press conference that they launched attacks on 28 enclaves in Thursday’s action, supported by 10 countries. “This was exclusively designed to go against the capabilities that are preventing freedom international navigation,” Sims added to the press, who said that Washington is “pretty confident” that they did a good job.

For his part, the spokesman for the White House Security Council, John Kirby, said the US is not seeking a war in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis. He added that the intention of the president, Joe Biden, is to reduce tension in the region. “We want their attacks to stop.”

Biden sent a letter to the US Congress this Friday to report the air attack launched yesterday against the Houthis in Yemen, after receiving criticism for not having notified the Legislative Branch before the bombing. The US president warned yesterday in a statement: “I will not hesitate to order additional measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”