The US is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell announced yesterday, emphasizing the need to protect trade routes, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
The announcement was made after the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the attacks on the aircraft carrier “Harry S. Truman“ in the Red Sea last month. Washington, which has carried out strikes in Yemen in recent weeks, has not confirmed these attacks.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023 Houthis attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
According to the Pentagon under “Harry S. Truman“ will join the “Carl Vinson“, currently in the Indo-Pacific region, “to continue to promote regional stability, deter aggression, and protect trade routes in the region,“ Parnell said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the deployment of “additional squadrons and other air assets to the region that will enhance our defensive air support capabilities,“ Parnell said.
The Houthis said three people were killed and two others were wounded in strikes in Hodeidah (in the west of the country) that they attributed to the United States, according to a statement issued late last night by their health ministry.