Did intel failure hinder America’s campaign against Houthi rebels?

A Houthi ballistic missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three and injuring four others. This marked the first fatal attack by the Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group based in Yemen, in its ongoing assaults in the Red Sea.

The US Central Command said in a statement on Friday that a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier was attacked and has since been abandoned. Two US officials told CNN that coalition warships are now in the area assessing the situation.

Notably, the deadly strike by the Houthis is a significant escalation of the Houthi-US conflict in the region, which began in October, 2023, as a result of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

An intel failure?

A CNN report notes that “the US has been struggling to stop the attacks, and the rebel group has continued to fortify its weapons stockpile in Yemen”.

“Multiple officials told CNN the US still does not have a denominator that would allow them to assess the percentage of Houthi equipment the US and the UK have actually destroyed in airstrikes, and it is not clear whether the US will shift its military approach further,” the report says.