Strikes on positions of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, in Yemen on Thursday and Friday destroyed about 90% of the targets struck, but this did not significantly affect the offensive capabilities of the movement, the report said, adding that much of the Houthis' offensive capabilities are mobile-mounted and can be easily moved or hidden.
Finding targets has proven more challenging than expected, as Western intelligence agencies have not spent much time or resources in recent years to collect data on the locations of air defenses, command centers, ammunition depots, and drone and missile storage and production facilities owned by the Houthis, the newspaper reported.
The United States will reportedly adhere to the tactic of destroying targets as soon as possible after its discovery, if US President Joe Biden gives the appropriate order, the report read.
In the early hours of Friday, the US and the UK military carried out 23 airstrikes on targets in four provinces in different parts of Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa and the cities of Al Hudaydah, Taizz and Sadah, local government sources told Sputnik. Later in the day, the US Air Forces Central said that US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen had hit more than 60 targets in 16 different locations.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria later said that the US and the UK had carried out 73 strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, killing five fighters and injuring six others. A member of Houthis' high political council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, described the Western attacks as "barbaric terrorism" and "deliberate and unjustified aggression."
On Thursday, the US Central Command said that the Houthis had attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea 27 times since November 19. The Houthis had previously announced their plans to prevent the passage of ships linked to Israeli companies or bound for Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until the latter's military actions in the Gaza Strip end.
Moscow slammed strikes on Yeman as violation of international law for "destructive purpusoses" of Western countries.