Pentagon orders second Navy carrier group to the Middle East

The U.S. military is sending the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East, as fighting with Houthi forces around Yemen reignites after a two-month pause.

According to reporting from the Associated Press, the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group will end its current deployment in east Asia in the 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility and head to the waters around Yemen. That will bolster American force projection in the region, as the ships will be joining the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the fight against Houthi forces around Yemen. That carrier group’s deployment to the Middle East has extended another month, according to the Associated Press.

The dual carrier deployment comes a week into renewed fighting between U.S. forces and the Houthis, a religious and Yemeni nationalist group that controls much of Yemen, including the capital city. Since October 2023, the group has launched rockets and drones at commercial ships passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The U.S. Navy and Air Force have repeatedly intercepted those munitions and carried out bombing campaigns on Houthi-controlled areas. After a ceasefire was signed in January, the Houthis halted their attacks and the U.S. in turn stopped strikes on Yemen. That ended last weekend when the Truman Carrier Strike Group launched attacks on Yemen in response to the Houthis saying they would renew actions in the Red Sea.

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