Several U.S. Navy warships were targeted in a “complex attack” on Friday by the Iran-backed Houthi in the Red Sea, according to the Department of Defense.
“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department.
On Friday, Iran-backed Houthi forces said they had damaged three U.S. Navy warships in an assault involving 23 missiles and bomber drones. The Defense Department denied that any U.S. military ships were struck. Newsweek has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
“My understanding is that those were either engaged and shot down or failed,” Singh said of the missile attacks, adding that there were no injuries to U.S. service members.
The military news site Stars and Stripes said that U.S. Central Command, overseeing military operations in the Middle East, along with the Navy Office of Information, confirmed that Navy forces successfully intercepted the missiles.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson said in a televised speech that the ships were targeted while transiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. This is a critical waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, where the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group are located.
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Blake Midnight/AP
The strike group includes three destroyers: USS Spruance, USS Stockdale, and USS O’Kane.
On Friday, Singh declined to confirm whether the destroyers were the intended targets of the Houthi missile attack.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether they’re being shot in the vicinity of a U.S. ship or targeting another vessel. We always take measures for our self-defense, so I can’t really tell you the intended target,” Singh said.
“We did what we had to do to protect our forces, and, at the end of the day, no ship was hit, no damage, and no injuries to our personnel,” she added.
The Houthis of Yemen have carried out a series of strikes on U.S. warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip last year.
U.S. warships are regularly assigned to intercept such threats and often conduct strikes against rebel forces in Yemen. For example, in December, the USS Carney shot down 14 Houthi drones that were targeting the guided-missile destroyer.
The Houthis have said that more attacks will take place if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not stop offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Last week, the Houthis launched a missile into central Israel, leading Netanyahu to warn that the Yemeni rebels would face “a heavy price.” The attack reportedly caused travelers at Ben-Gurion International Airport to rush to shelters for safety, with air-raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and nearby regions.
