US navy says no accidents or injury attributable to anti-ship cruise missile fired in direction of USS Laboon.
The US navy has shot down a missile fired at one among its vessels by Iran-backed Houthis, officers have mentioned, within the first identified assault on US forces by the insurgent group since Washington started its newest air strikes on Yemen.
A US fighter plane shot down the anti-ship cruise missile after it was fired from a Houthi-controlled space of Yemen in direction of the USS Laboon within the Pink Sea, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) mentioned on Sunday.
“The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hodeida by US fighter aircraft,” CENTCOM mentioned. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
The assault is the primary to be acknowledged by the US since Washington and its allies on Friday started launching air and cruise missile strikes on Yemen in response to Houthi assaults on industrial transport within the Pink Sea.
The Houthis, which have but to acknowledge the newest incident, have carried out repeated assaults on cargo ships that the group says are linked to Israel, in a present of assist for Palestinians beneath Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
At the very least 26 vessels have been attacked by the Houthis since they seized the Israeli-linked Galaxy Chief vessel in November.
The assaults have pressured a few of the world’s largest transport operators to redirect their vessels across the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, severely disrupting international commerce.
Site visitors by way of the Pink Sea, which usually facilitates the motion of $3bn-$9bn price of cargo every day, has dropped by greater than 40 p.c for the reason that begin of the assaults.
Earlier on Sunday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam accused the US of violating nationwide sovereignty by flying plane near Yemeni airspace and coastal areas, though it’s not clear if the 2 incidents have been linked.
