US defence secretary Lloyd Austin ordered strikes from hospital, Pentagon says

US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin first orchestrated and then watched in real time from his hospital room as the US retaliatory attack on Yemen-based Houthi militants unfolded on Thursday night.

Mr Austin’s hospital room leadership was the latest in a series of actions the defence chief has carried out from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre, where he has been recovering from complications due to treatments for prostate cancer.