US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, whose hospitalization has long been kept secret, including by President Joe Biden, has sparked controversy, has been leading US-British strikes in Yemen “from his hospital bed”, he told the White House on Friday, AFP reported.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC that Austin was “yesterday (Thursday) fully involved in preparing strikes against the Houthis in Yemen on Friday morning.

“He was fully involved, including from his hospital bed,” Kirby insisted, noting the full coordination between the secretary, “the National Security Council team in the White House and, of course, the commander-in-chief, President Biden.”

“The president has made it clear that Mr. Austin is and will remain his secretary of defense,” and he has “full confidence,” the spokesman added.

70-year-old Lloyd Austin, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early December, was operated on under general anesthesia on December 22. Then he was hospitalized again from January 1 due to complications.

This diagnosis and these two hospitalizations were not reported to the highest authorities of the country until the last days, starting with Joe Biden, which caused a scandal in the press and among his Republican opponents, in the middle of an election year.