Washington:
Yemen’s Huthi rebels focused two US destroyers with drones and missiles as they transited the Bab al-Mandab Strait, however the warships defeated the assaults, the Pentagon stated Tuesday.
The Huthis started putting ships within the Purple Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, a part of the region-wide fallout from Israel’s devastating battle in Gaza, which teams in a number of international locations have cited as justification for assaults.
The US warships “had been attacked by not less than eight one-way assault uncrewed aerial programs, 5 anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles, which had been efficiently engaged and defeated,” Pentagon spokesman Main Common Pat Ryder advised journalists.
“The vessels weren’t broken, no personnel had been damage,” Ryder stated of the Monday assaults.
A declare from the Huthis that in addition they attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln plane service is just not correct, he stated.
“Based mostly on the data I’ve, it was not attacked, opposite to a few of the allegations… by the Huthis,” Ryder stated, declining to specify the service’s location.
The Yemeni rebels say their assaults — a big worldwide safety problem that threatens a significant delivery lane — are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Anger over Israel’s ongoing navy marketing campaign within the small coastal territory, which started after an unprecedented Hamas assault on October 7, has stoked violence involving Iran-backed teams in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The USA and different international locations have deployed navy vessels to assist protect delivery from the Huthi strikes, however assaults instantly focusing on American warships are comparatively uncommon.
Washington’s forces have additionally carried out frequent air strikes on the Huthis in a bid to degrade their capability to focus on delivery and have sought to grab weapons earlier than they attain the rebels, however their assaults have endured.
Ryder stated Tuesday that US forces carried out a number of air strikes over the weekend towards Huthi weapons storage amenities.
“These amenities housed a wide range of superior standard weapons utilized by the Iran-backed Huthis to focus on US and worldwide navy and civilian vessels navigating worldwide waters,” he stated, noting that each US Air Power and Navy belongings had been concerned.
US forces additionally focused Iran-backed teams in Syria on Monday in response to drone and rocket assaults on American troops in that nation the day before today.
The assaults didn’t lead to any American casualties, in keeping with Ryder, who stated he didn’t have info to offer on whether or not the following US strikes killed or wounded operatives.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by EDNBOX employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)