Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward a US destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, but a US warplane shot it down.
It was the latest attack disrupting global shipping amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack is the first to have been recognized by Washington since the United States and its allies began strikes against the rebels on Friday, following weeks of attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group allied with Iran, did not immediately recognize the attack.
It was not immediately clear whether the United States would retaliate for this latest attack, although President Joe Biden said he “would not hesitate to take further action to protect our people and free movement of international trade if necessary.
The Houthi fire targeted the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command said in a statement.
The missile came from Hodeidah, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the United States said.
“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from the Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen towards the USS Laboon,” the central command said.
“No injuries or damage were reported,” it added.
On its first day of strikes, Friday, the United States hit 28 sites and more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine.
American forces followed up on Saturday with a strike on a Houthi radar site.
Shipping via the Red Sea was slowed by these attacks. The US Navy warned ships on Friday to stay away from areas around Yemen, in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, for 72 hours after the initial airstrikes.
For their part, the Houthis claimed, without providing evidence, that the United States struck a site near Hodeidah on Sunday. The Americans and Britain have not acknowledged carrying out any strike, suggesting the explosion may have come from a botched missile launch by the Houthis.
Since November, rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they aimed to avenge Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But they have frequently targeted ships with almost non-existent ties to Israel, imperiling shipping on a key global trade route.
Although the Biden administration and its allies have been trying for weeks to calm tensions in the Middle East and prevent any broader conflict, the strikes have threatened to spark one.
Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government in exile that the Houthis are fighting, has sought to distance itself from attacks on Houthi sites as it tries to maintain a ceasefire in Yemen.
The Saudi-led, US-backed war in Yemen, which began in 2015, has claimed more than 150,000 lives, including fighters and civilians, and caused one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. world.