The U.S. Central Command announced before dawn on Monday that the Houthis targeted the destroyer “USS Mason” with an anti-ship missile in the Red Sea, in what appeared to be a response to the raids carried out by Washington and London on their positions in Yemen.
Via the “X” platform, the U.S. Central Command stated that an American fighter jet downed the cruise missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area toward the U.S. destroyer off the coast of Al Hudaydah governorate, west of Yemen.
The command added that the Houthi attack in the southern Red Sea did not result in any damage or injuries.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, Abdel Fattah Fayyed, described the targeting of the American warship as a significant development because it implies that the conflict is widening into the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Fayyed stated that the event indicates that the Houthis are carrying out their threats to target “enemy forces” on land and sea, as mentioned in the group’s statement following the American-British bombardment of several areas in Yemen.
Under the pretext of responding to the Houthis’ targeting of commercial ships in the Red Sea and near the Bab al-Mandab strait, the United States and Britain conducted airstrikes on dozens of targets in Yemen last Friday, within the framework of the newly announced coalition.
The following day, the U.S. military alone bombed locations in Sana’a and Al Hudaydah. The Houthis threatened a strong response to these strikes.
Intense Flying
The Houthi group reported new bombardments targeting locations in Yemen on Sunday, which Washington and London denied.
Local sources in Al Hudaydah mentioned that the city witnessed intense flying of American fighter jets, while others targeted Houthi positions in the governorate on Saturday.
John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator at the U.S. National Security Council, stated that the U.S. does not seek conflict with the Houthis.
Furthermore, British Foreign Minister David Cameron expressed his country’s readiness to conduct more strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen if the assaults on commercial and military ships continue in the Red Sea.
On the other hand, Newsweek quoted the Iranian representative to the United Nations saying that “any country participating in the military aggression on Yemen could expose itself to danger.”
In a related context, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, has called on all concerned parties to avoid actions that could exacerbate the situation or escalate threats to maritime trade routes and increase regional tensions.
In connection, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized the rejection of the military force against Yemen, indicating that the international community has not authorized any country to conduct strikes there.
