Latest news with #Eastburn
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since March
The U.S. military carried out airstrikes on more than 800 targets in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen since March 15, U.S. Central Command said this past week. These strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, advanced weapons storage locations, and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,' CENTCOM spokesman Dave Eastburn said in a statement to Task & Purpose, echoing comments given to reporters at the end of the week. Eastburn added that '[c]redible open sources report over 650 Houthi casualties to date,' although Task & Purpose could not independently verify if those killed were members of the Houthi movement. CENTCOM also said that Houthi ballistic missile launches are down 87%. dropped by 87%, and their launches of one-way attack drones are down 65%. The numbers are a rare update on the now month-and-a-half fight around Yemen. Despite multiple posts on the social media site X showing aircraft launching from carriers and messages announcing '24/7' operations against Houthis, the U.S. military has been quiet on specifics on how many airstrikes it is carrying out. After initially confirming operations on March 15, the U.S. military has been extremely vague on the tempo of airstrikes and what impact they are having, even as some other information on the operations has come out. One of the few incidents where information was shared was the April 18 strike on the Ras Isa port in western Yemen, which killed several dozen people. The Yemen Data Project, which is tracking the amount of airstrikes in the conflict, reports that strikes in March were the second highest overall since the start of fighting in late 2023, behind only the number of airstrikes in February 2024. The strikes, which picked up after two months of tentative calm, came after Houthis announced plans to restart attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The group began such attacks in October 2023, following the Israeli war in Gaza, which in turn led to American and allied navies shooting down dozens of missiles and drones fired at commercial or military vessels. Two commercial ships have been sunk as a result. From January 2024-January 2025 the United States and allies carried out several airstrikes in Yemen separate from those intercept operations. At the end of 2024 one crewed F/A-18F Super Hornet was accidentally shot down by the U.S. Navy. The Associated Press reports that Houthi forces shot down seven U.S. military MQ-9 drones between March 31-April 22, worth roughly $200 million in total. Three of those seven were all shot down within the past week. Houthis had previously claimed to have shot down 14 American drones between fall 2023 and the end of 2024, per the Atlantic Council. Neither Central Command or Houthi officials have said what has led to the high frequency of U.S. drone shootdowns in the last six weeks compared to the previous phase of the conflict. U.S. officials did not point to how many mid-air intercepts have been done in the past six weeks. Houthi forces have made repeated claims of firing on U.S. Navy ships, and the Navy has said it shot down one-way attack drones aimed at vessels, but it's unclear how many drones and missiles the Navy has taken out since March 15. Between October 2023-December 2024, those types of intercepts were a common, sometimes daily occurrence. The frequency of such operations put the Navy in its biggest battle since World War II and proved to be a challenge for munitions. Houthi weapons fired are relatively cheap, whereas for months the United States has launched expensive Standard Missiles and other munitions, with each one ranging between $2 million-$27.9 million. At the end of Operation Poseidon Archer, the term for the strikes done between January 2024-January 2025, the Navy reported that it had fired roughly 400 munitions, including 120 SM-2 missiles. The Navy has said that it is pursuing cheaper alternatives to deal with the high tempo of airstrikes and intercept missions. Top enlisted leader of Air Force Special Operations Command fired amid investigation The Marine in one of the most famous recruiting commercials is now in Congress 75th Ranger Regiment wins 2025 Best Ranger Competition Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer reenlists in Marine Reserve Air Force pilots get a new way to pee at 30,000 feet
New York Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
U.S. Says Blast in Yemen Was Caused by Houthi Missile, Not U.S. Strike
A deadly blast on Sunday near a UNESCO world heritage site in Yemen's capital was caused by a Houthi missile, not a U.S. airstrike, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command said on Thursday. The health ministry of the Houthi-led government said earlier this week that an American airstrike had hit a densely populated neighborhood of Sana, the Yemeni capital, killing 12 people and injuring 30 others. The blast struck an area adjacent to Sana's Old City, a UNESCO world heritage site filled with ancient towers. Dave Eastburn, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said in a statement that while the damage and casualties described by local health officials most 'likely did occur,' they were not the result of an American attack. While the United States had conducted military operations over Sana that night, the closest American strike was more than three miles away, he added. The Pentagon's assessment that the damage was caused by a 'Houthi Air Defense missile' was based in part on a review of 'local reporting, including videos documenting Arabic writing on the missile's fragments at the market,' Mr. Eastburn said. The Pentagon did not provide those videos or evidence of its claims in its statements. An initial review by The New York Times of local reporting and open-source material in Yemen found a video showing a missile fragment with Arabic writing posted to social media, however it was from a different location from the market in Sana's Old City. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis' Politburo, said in a phone interview that the American denial was an attempt to smear the Houthis. He reiterated that the group believed that the United States targeted the neighborhood on Sunday, 'just as it previously targeted ports, cemeteries and citizens' homes, resulting in the deaths of hundreds.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan legislation hopes to ban child marriage in Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After falling short during session last year, there's a new bipartisan push to ban child marriage in Missouri. Right now, in Missouri, 16- and 17-year-olds can get married to anyone under 21 if they have parental consent. This legislation would eliminate that loophole by prohibiting marriage licenses to those under the age of 18. Those supporting the bill said this protects children from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. 'I ask that you please support that if I'm not old enough to vote, I shouldn't be old enough to get married,' Sheena Eastburn testified Wednesday. 'I support that we don't make more victims to child marriage in Missouri. That we stand and be the state that says no more.' Eastburn drove from Joplin to testify at the Senate hearing Wednesday, telling her own story of being married at the age of 15. 'I endured mental, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse for two years,' Eastburn said. 'I could not run away because I was still 16 and 17 during my marriage, and I could not get into a domestic shelter.' She was one of a handful who testified in favor of Senate Bill 66. Brandy Dredge from St. Joseph also traveled to Jefferson City to share her trauma of being married as a minor, in hopes of changing state law. 'It has taken me a lot of years to finally see, accept, and say I am a child marriage, domestic violence, and sex crime survivor,' Dredge said. 'When I was 16, I met a 24-year-old man who lived with some boys I went to high school with, and he was a star in my teenage eyes. I believed that he hung the moon. Four months later I was pregnant, and a year after that, I was begging my mom to give parental consent for us to get married. Over the next nine years, the statistics surrounding child marriage—which are the high likelihood of poverty, lack of further education, and enduring many forms of abuse—would ring true in my marriage.' Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Former senator from Sikeston, Holly Thompson Rehder, joined the group of women who told the committee why Missouri needs to join nearly a dozen other states in banning child marriage. 'I got married at 15; my mother struggled with mental illness,' Rehder said. 'I talked her into letting me get married to my 21-year-old boyfriend. Within a few months I had quit school; within five months I was pregnant. I was homeless at times; I didn't fit in with the people my age, with the kids anymore, but I wasn't an adult. I derailed my life because it was allowed.' Back in 2018, the General Assembly passed legislation to raise the minimum age to get married from 15 to 16 but still required signed approval from at least one parent. Those 16 and 17 could only be married to people under the age of 21. 'It's hard to fathom that your parent could commit you when you're 16 or 17 years old that they are going to sign you up for something that would last a lifetime,' Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, said. 'When you start looking at the statistics… 88% of children were still getting married when they were 16 or 17.' Senate Bill 66 is sponsored by McCreery. Republican Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, is sponsoring similar legislation. The two talking to reporters after the hearing about their renewed push for the legislation after it fell short of passing last year. 'As a father of three daughters, I see that we're not what we were sixty, seventy, eighty years ago, so I think now is a time that we've got to update the law,' Brattin said. 'I was on the other side years ago because I had family that were married at very young ages generations ago, so there are just personal feelings knowing that family had been married at young ages, but we're not there today.' According to the Department of Health and Senior Services, between 2019 and 2021, 225 minors were married in Missouri. Roughly 75% of those marriages were girls under the age of 18. The committee did not take action Wednesday but could as soon as next week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
