The Sirocco recovered upward of 1,500 rifles as well as rocket launchers and 12.7mm heavy machine guns in March, according to a Pentagon release. CAR was denied the opportunity to document the weapons for its report. While a large amount of the weapons appeared to be Russian and Iranian in origin, small arms from China, Romania, Bulgaria and North Korea also were recovered from some of the dhows.

The Houthis, a Zaidi Shiite-aligned group, overthrew the Yemeni government in early 2015. Shortly thereafter, a Saudi-led coalition — backed by the United States — intervened to help prop up the fledging government forces. The Saudi-backed coalition has been criticized for its reliance on heavy-handed airstrikes that have repeatedly struck civilian areas inside Yemen. Houthi fighters have repeatedly fired land-based ballistic missiles into towns across the Saudi border, and last month, the rebel group fired anti-ship missiles at U.S. ships operating in the Arabian Sea. In response, U.S. forces launched cruise missiles at the Houthi radar sites probably responsible for directing the attack.

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