The Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired a cruise missile at an American warship on Sunday in apparent retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen last week.
The missile was shot down by a fighter jet, resulting in no injuries, according to a U.S. Central Command post on Monday. It was fired towards the USS Laboon, a U.S. Navy destroyer, that was in the southern Red Sea over the weekend.
On Monday, the U.S. military announced that an American-owned cargo ship had been hit by another missile in the Gulf of Aden.
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The missile attacks—one targeted right at the U.S. armed forces—suggest the Houthis will not back down from the Red Sea crisis despite joint military strikes orchestrated by the U.S. and U.K.
Washington and London sanctioned the strikes which began on Thursday after repeated drone and missile attacks on ships passing through the region. The Houthis, who have de-facto control of Yemen after a decade-long civil war, said they would target Israeli-linked vessels in solidarity with the Palestinians, but some of those which came under attack had no known link to Israel.
The Houthis have been seen as a threat to global shipping routes for years, but the allied attacks on Yemen were the first such military strikes intended to warn off the Iran-backed militants trying to escalate the conflict in Gaza.
Since Nov. 19, the Houthis have attacked at least 27 cargo ships as they passed through Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a narrow choke point en route into the Red Sea and on to the Suez Canal, which borders Yemen.
A Houthi spokesman said the U.S. and U.K. military strikes hit 72 targets in Yemen, killing five people and injuring six. The targets included drone sites, airfields, radar systems and command and control centers along the coast and in the capital of Sana’a, which is under Houthi control.
The Houthi’s chief negotiator told Reuters that the group would not stop attacking ships.
“Attacks to stop Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” Mohammed Abdulsalam said. “Our position comes from religious, moral and humanitarian principles... as well as in response to the calls of the people of Palestine... to support the oppressed in the Gaza Strip.”
President Joe Biden said he had privately delivered a message to Iran on Saturday over its support for the Houthi strategy after the salvo of missiles had pounded the coastline.
