STORY: U.S. continues to strike Houthi targets in Yemen
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 19, 2024/Jan. 12, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 20, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:08
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
CATEGORY: MILITARY/POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE (English): JOHN KIRBY, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council
3. various of U.S. warplanes taking off to launch strikes against Houthi targets (Jan. 12, 2024, offered by U.S. Department of Defense)

STORYLINE:

The United States continued its strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, destroying three missile launchers the U.S. military assessed were otherwise ready to launch attacks, the White House said.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told the White House daily press briefing that Friday's "successful" strikes were the fourth "pre-emptive action" the U.S. military has taken in the past week against Houthi targets.

SOUNDBITE (English): JOHN KIRBY, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council
"This morning, U.S. forces conducted three successful self-defense strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. This is the fourth pre-emptive action that the U.S. military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile launchers that are ready to launch attacks - in this case, anti-ship missiles. CENTCOM Central Command will have more details on this a little bit later. But as you know, our U.S. Navy ships are in the Red Sea as well as international shipping. These actions were, I want to stress again, done in self-defense, but it also helps make safer international waters for both naval vessels as well as merchants to shipping."

Washington has said its strikes are aimed at degrading the Houthis' capabilities to continue with its attacks on vessels -- both civilian and military -- transiting through the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb, as well as the Gulf of Aden.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Washington D.C.
(XHTV)