US orders return of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower from Red Sea deployment

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
22 Jun 2024 23:07

One of the US Navy's oldest aircraft carriers has been stationed in the Red Sea for over eight months

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FILE - The USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as 'IKE', sails in the Red Sea on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

According to a US official cited by USNI News, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the return home of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and its accompanying cruiser escort from their deployment in the Red Sea since 2023.

"Time to bring them home," the official was quoted as saying.

One of the US Navy's oldest aircraft carriers has been stationed in the Red Sea for over eight months, the outlet wrote, noting that this marks the longest deployment period among all US carriers in the past five years.

According to the outlet, the departing CVN-69 is set to be relieved by a carrier currently stationed in the Pacific. Likely candidates for this replacement include the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

Earlier in the day, military sources reported that Yemen's Rocket Forces launched an attack on the aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, firing a number of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at the vessel.

The flagship of the American Carrier Strike Group 2 has gradually sailed north of Yemen after it was attacked on two previous occasions in late May and early June.

Yemen, among the most impoverished and food-insecure countries in the world due to years of sanctions and Western-backed aggression, has been actively engaged in blockading the Israeli economy by preventing ships from reaching the occupied territories.

The purpose of doing so is to pressure the Israeli regime to halt its genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza.

Following today's operations on the carrier, spokesperson of the YAF, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that the Yemeni Armed Forces will carry on with its operations in support of the Palestinian people until the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted and the war on the besieged territory ends.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to attack any hostile foreign vessels in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea," Saree stressed, adding that the operations against hostile military vessels come in response to the multiple aggressions on Yemen.