American forces destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen that posed an imminent threat to ships in the area, the US military said Tuesday.

The United States and Britain have carried out two rounds of joint strikes aimed at reducing the Houthis’ ability to target shipping, while Washington has also launched a series of unilateral air raids on the Iran-backed rebels’ missiles, AFP reports.

The latest strikes — which took place early morning Yemen time — targeted “two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch,” US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement.

“US forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region,” Centcom said.