Fifty Iranian Military Experts Killed in U.S.-UK Strikes on Sites in Yemen

Military sources told Sheba Intelligence that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has lost dozens of its experts in Yemen since the start of the U.S.-UK strikes on missile and drone launch centers controlled by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, which has repeatedly hit American, British, and Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The sources estimated that about fifty Iranian experts were targeted, out of 150 experts who manage the operations rooms for launching and deploying ballistic missiles, drones, booby-trapped boats, and sea mines in several areas, especially in Al-Hudaydah, Saada, and Sanaa.

According to the sources, the group used modified ballistic missiles instead of naval missiles to target ships from launch centers in desert and mountainous areas inside Yemen to reduce the human and material loss that would result from British and American air strikes.

The Houthi group focuses on preparing ballistic missile launch centers in Saada, Hajjah, Al-Jawf, Ibb, Al-Bayda, Taiz, and Dhamar so that the targets in the Red Sea, Bab El-Mandeb, or the Gulf of Aden are within the range of the ballistic missile, depending on its type. The aerial distance of the missiles ranges between 100 km and 500 km.

The Houthis also resorted to extensive operations to camouflage missile launchers and drones in coastal areas in preparation for escalating attacks against the American and British warships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Yemeni group is worried that U.S.-UK strikes will destroy some of its weapons and missile depots. Therefore, it has distributed and deployed weapons and missiles to multiple areas.

On January 12, the U.S. and U.K. began a barrage of air raids on Houthi-controlled territories in North Yemen to degrade the group’s missile and drone capabilities. So far, the Houthi attacks on ships have not ceased, and the U.S.-UK warplanes keep hitting sites in several Yemeni provinces.