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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile at a U.S. destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, but in the latest attack a U.S. fighter jet shot it down. , global shipping is in turmoil amid the war between Israel and Hamas. in the Gaza Strip, officials said.
The attack was the first Houthi shelling recognized by the United States since the United States and its allies launched an offensive against the rebels on Friday following weeks of attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The attack threatens to escalate the conflict into a regional conflagration, as the Houthis have targeted a key corridor linking Asia and the Middle East’s energy and cargo shipping from the Suez Canal to Europe over the Israeli-Hamas war.
The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, who seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
It was not immediately clear whether the United States would retaliate for the attack, but President Joe Biden said he would “not hesitate to direct further action as necessary to protect our people and the freedom of international commerce.” Ta.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that Sunday’s Houthi artillery fire was directed toward the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Rabun, which is operating at the southern end of the Red Sea.
The U.S. said the missiles came from near the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, long controlled by the Houthis.
Central Command announced that an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel area in Yemen towards the aircraft carrier Labun. “No injuries or damage were reported.”
The first day of the U.S.-led offensive on Friday hit more than 60 targets, striking 28 locations with cruise missiles and bombs fired from fighter jets, warships and submarines. The US said the areas attacked included weapons depots, radar and command centers, including in remote mountain areas.
The Houthis have yet to admit the severity of the damage caused by the airstrike, saying five soldiers were killed and six others injured.
US forces attacked a Houthi radar site on Saturday.
Shipping through the Red Sea has been slowed by the attacks. The US Navy on Friday warned US-flagged vessels to stay away from waters around Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for 72 hours after the first airstrike.
The Houthis have claimed, without providing evidence, that the United States attacked a facility near Hodeidah at about the same time as Sunday’s cruise missile launch. The United States and Britain have denied carrying out any attacks and have suggested the explosion may have been the result of a Houthi missile misfiring.
Rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea since November in retaliation for Israeli attacks in Gaza against Hamas. But they frequently target ships with weak or unclear connections to Israel, endangering shipping along vital routes for global trade.
The Biden administration and its allies have been trying for weeks to calm tensions in the Middle East and prevent the conflict from escalating, but the latest attack threatens to inflame the conflict.
Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government-in-exile fighting the Houthis, has sought to distance itself from attacks on Houthi strongholds as it seeks to maintain a delicate détente with Iran and a ceasefire in Yemen. The Saudi-led, US-backed war in Yemen, which began in 2015, has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and tens of thousands more.
The U.S. military did not specifically say the fire was targeting Labun, following a U.S. pattern since the Houthi offensive began. However, U.S. sailors have received combat ribbons for their actions in the Red Sea, which are only given out to those facing active combat with enemy forces.
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Associated Press writers Sammy Magdy in Cairo, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
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