The Iran-backed group launched drones and fired missiles at two US warships in an attack that lasted hours, the Pentagon confirms.
US warships came under sustained missile and drone attacks by Houthi fighters while sailing off the coast of Yemen, the Pentagon confirmed, and the armed group claimed it attacked the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and two US destroyers.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Tuesday that U.S. Army Central Command (CENTCOM) forces “successfully repelled multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks during a transit through the Bab Strait.” al-Mandeb”, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf. from Aden.
Ryder told reporters at a news conference that two U.S. guided missile destroyers, the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance, were attacked by at least eight one-way attack drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles.
All Houthi drones and missiles “were successfully attacked and defeated,” and none of the U.S. Navy ships were damaged or personnel injured, he said.
Ryder added that he was not aware of any attack on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
On Tuesday, Houthi fighters announced that they had carried out two “targeted military operations” against the US Navy in an assault that lasted eight hours.
“The first operation targeted the US aircraft carrier (Abraham) located in the Arabian Sea with a series of cruise missiles and drones,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement.
“The other operation targeted two US destroyers in the Red Sea with several ballistic missiles and drones,” he said, adding that the operation had “successfully achieved its objectives.”
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The Houthis, who control large areas of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, have been carrying out attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023, in what they say is a solidarity campaign. with the Palestinians.
However, the armed group has also been accused of attacking commercial ships without any obvious connection to Israel or its war in Gaza.
The Houthis have attacked more than 90 vessels with missiles and drones, killing four sailors and sinking two ships. The crew of one ship – the Galaxy Leader, a British-owned and Japanese-operated aircraft carrier, hijacked last November – remains detained in Yemen.
The Yemeni group has demanded that Israel end its war in Gaza as a condition of stopping the attacks, which have severely disrupted trade on one of the world's busiest shipping routes.
The United States, with support from the United Kingdom, has carried out repeated strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in response to attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
On Sunday, the United States and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes against Sanaa and the northern governorate of Amran, and the Pentagon said they had attacked advanced Houthi weapons storage facilities.
The attacks came just weeks after intense US raids against Houthi targets that saw B-2 strategic bombers participate for the first time, carrying out strikes against five underground weapons storage sites.
