The US and UK launched strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen Thursday night. The strikes come after repeated warnings of retaliation to the rebels' attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes as a "defensive action" in response to "unprecedented Houthi attacks" on international shipping vessels in vital waterways.
The Iran-backed militant group has carried out more than two dozen attacks on international commercial shipping since last November, causing vessels to divert from the Red Sea, a vital shipping corridor that connects to the Suez Canal, and instead take longer routes that add thousands of miles.
Over 100 precision-guided munitions were used on more than 60 Houthi targets in Yemen, US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said Thursday. A senior US military official told CNN that precision-guided munitions were used to destroy targets and "minimize collateral damage."
The US and its allies hit targets that are "military objectives," a US defense official told Business Insider. Among the targets were command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems, Grynkewich said.
Here's what we know about the weapons the US and UK forces — with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands — used in the retaliatory strike.