Yemen Houthi rebels fire missile at US warship in Red Sea in first attack after American-led strikes
- US warplane shot down cruise missile fired toward US destroyer from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen
- It followed US and UK strikes on targets in Yemen that drew threats of retaliation from Iran-backed Houthis
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, but a US fighter jet shot it down in the latest attack roiling global shipping amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, officials said.
The attack marks the first US-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have targeted that crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onwards to Europe over the war between Israel and Hamas, attacks that threaten to widen that conflict into a regional conflagration.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group allied with Iran that seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the US would retaliate for the latest attack, though President Joe Biden has said he “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary”.