The U.S. Department of Defence announced that the U.S. military attacked positions of Iranian-allied militias in Yemen and Syria.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on Tuesday that Airstrikes were carried out on several Houthi rebel weapons caches in Yemen over the weekend.

‘‘These facilities housed a variety of advanced conventional weapons used by the Iran-backed Houthis to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international waters in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Mr Ryder said.

According to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for the Middle East, in Syria, the U.S. military attacked a weapons depot and a logistics centre belonging to a pro-Iranian militia.

The attack was in response to attacks on U.S. troops in Syria, it said.

CENTCOM commander Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement on X posted late Tuesday that the U.S. military has made it clear that attacks on U.S. personnel, partner forces and facilities will not be tolerated.

Houthi militants have repeatedly fired on merchant ships in the critical Red Sea shipping corridor that connects to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal since the start of the war in Gaza.

The militants have said the attacks are intended to support Hamas by making it more difficult for cargo ships to reach Israel.

(dpa/NAN)