US Airstrike Hits Houthi Command and Control Facility in Yemen

The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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US Airstrike Hits Houthi Command and Control Facility in Yemen

The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
The setting sun's light shines through a thick blanket of clouds in the sky over Sanaa, Yemen, 15 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

The US military said it conducted an airstrike on Monday against a command and control facility operated by the Houthi militias in Yemen.

"The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," the US military's Central Command said in a post on X.

The airstrike came after the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen that had triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Monday afternoon.

The missile was intercepted outside Israel’s borders, the military said.

However, shrapnel fell on the roof of a home in the east Jerusalem, which the military said was likely from one of the Israeli interceptor missiles.

There were no reports of casualties or major damage, according to Israel’s emergency services.

The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for firing a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, but nearly all of those weapons have been intercepted.



Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, has signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday.

The deal, which included a complete cessation of hostilities, was signed by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF's commander, Mazloum Abdi.

Under the deal, whose text was posted online by the presidency, all civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria will be integrated within the state, which will thus take over control of borders, airports and oil and gas fields.

The SDF agrees to support the government in combating remnants of deposed president Bashar al-Assad's regime, and any threats to Syria's security and unity.

Since Assad was overthrown by Sharaa's Islamist forces in December, groups backed by Türkiye, one of Sharaa's main supporters, have clashed with the SDF, the main ally in a US coalition against ISIS militants in Syria.

The SDF is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Türkiye regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups, and Sharaa's new Damascus administration had been pressing the SDF to merge into newly-minted state security forces.

Abdi had previously expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defense ministry, but said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals, an idea that was rejected by the new government.

The US and Türkiye’s Western allies list the PKK as a terrorist group, but not the YPG or the SDF.