A US fighter jet shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, marking the latest attack amid Israel’s conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“On January 14 at approximately 4:45 pm (Sanaa time) an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Iranian-backed Huthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea,” the United States Central Command said in a statement.
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US fighter aircraft shot down the missile and there were no injuries or damage reported, according to CENTCOM. The attack marks the first attack by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.
On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by… pic.twitter.com/jftZHQhA2e— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
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The Houthis have targeted that 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 that conflict into a regional conflagration.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group, did not immediately acknowledge the attack. The Houthi fire 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 missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the US said. “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 first day of US-led strikes 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 Saturday on a Houthi radar site.
(With agency inputs)
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