US shoots down cruise missile fired from Houthi area in Yemen

US shoots down cruise missile fired from Houthi area in Yemen

US fighter aircraft shot down a cruise missile fired from a Houthi militant area of Yemen toward a Navy destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, the US military said, adding there were no injuries or damage reported.

The missile was fired Sunday at about 4:45 p.m. local time at the USS Laboon and shot down in the vicinity of the coast, US Central Command said in a social media post Monday.

The latest development came after Houthi rebels in Yemen said US and UK fighter jets hit Jadaa mountain in the Red Sea province of Hodeida in a new strike Sunday evening.

Al-Masirah TV, operated by the Iran-backed military group, reported that fighter jets and surveillance drones were hovering over the Hodeida region. There’s been no confirmation from the US or UK military about that reported attack.

The US also launched an airstrike on a Houthi rebel radar installation on Friday, in what was described as a follow-up to an earlier barrage across Yemen intended to degrade the group’s ability to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Houthi rebels vowed to target US and UK commercial vessels over the weekend after the allies launched airstrikes against the group, fanning concern that the Israel-Hamas war is blossoming into a regional conflict with Iran, something the administration of US President Joe Biden says it wants to avoid.