Iran-aligned Houthi rebels deny they were behind first two attacks which prompted retaliatory US strikes on Yemen

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A US navy destroyer was targeted on Saturday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the third such incident in the past week, a US defence official said.



Multiple missiles were fired at the USS Mason sailing in international waters in the Red Sea but the warship took countermeasures to defend itself and was not hit, the official said.

The latest attack could provoke further retaliation by the US military, which launched cruise missiles on Thursday against three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen in response to the two previous failed missile firings against the Mason.

The US just bombed Yemen, and no one's talking about it | Moustafa Bayoumi Read more

The US missile strikes, authorised by President Obama, marked Washington’s first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict and raised questions about the potential for further escalation.

The Houthi movement earlier this week denied responsibility for the missile attacks on the Mason and warned that it too would defend itself.

The Pentagon on Thursday stressed the limited nature of the strikes, aimed at radar that it suspected enabled the launch of at least three missiles against the Mason last Sunday and Wednesday.

What is happening in Yemen and how Saudi Arabia's airstrikes are affecting civilians - explainer Read more

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said at the time that the US counter-strikes were not connected to the broader civil war in Yemen, which has unleashed famine and killed more than 10,000 people since March 2015 in the Arab world’s poorest country

The United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, has provided aerial refuelling of warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition striking Yemen and it supplies US weapons to the kingdom.

A Saudi Arabian-led coalition has admitted it bombed a funeral in Yemen last weekend, killing at least 140 people and wounded about 600, and said “wrong information” was to blame.

Iran, which supports the Houthi group, said last week it had deployed two warships to the Gulf of Aden, to protect ship lanes from piracy.

