PA MediaA US fighter jet shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired towards a US destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, the country’s military has confirmed.
The attack is the first confirmed targeting by Houthi rebels in Yemen since US and UK-led air strikes on the rebels began on Friday following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have targeted the crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe over the Israel-Hamas war, attacks that threaten to widen the conflict into a regional conflagration.
The missile targeted the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command said in a statement.
The statement said the missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis.
“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group allied with Iran, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
The first day of strikes on Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine. US forces followed up with a strike on Saturday on a Houthi radar site.
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