US destroyer shoots down Houthi drones and missiles launched towards it
Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched drones and missiles towards a US destroyer but it shot them down, officials have said.
The bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile-carrying drone boats were fired towards the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, on Tuesday.
Later, the US launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the military's Central Command said.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree acknowledged his militant group’s attack but claimed its forces targeted two American warships without elaborating.
The Houthis "will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted", he said.
Mr Saree did not acknowledge the later US airstrikes.
Since November, Houthi rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war.
They have not offered any assessment of the damage they have suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though it has said at least 22 of its fighters have been killed.
On Monday, the Liberia-flagged MSC Sky II was targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden.
The Indian Navy has since released footage of its sailors fighting from the INS Kolkata – its lead guided-missile destroyer - fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II.
Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.
The Mediterranean Shipping Co, a Switzerland-based firm, said the missile struck the ship as it was travelling from Singapore to Djibouti.
"The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured," the company said.
The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group.
Houthis' Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.
