Three U.S. warships came under attack Friday off the coast of Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have disrupted commercial shipping in the region, but no one was hurt, officials said.
The warships shot down nearly two dozen incoming missiles and drones while transiting a narrow entrance into the Red Sea. None of the vessels was hit, and no sailors on board were hurt, a U.S. official told Fox News.
The USS Stockdale and USS Spruance, along with a littoral combat ship, the USS Indianapolis, were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait when the naval warships came under attack from a barrage of incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, the officials said.
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Houthi militants march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo, File)
“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and waves,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday. “My understanding is that those were either engaged in, shot down or failed.”
The Stockdale and Spruance are part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group that recently arrived in the Middle East from the Pacific.
U.S. forces have struck back at Houthi militants on multiple occasions for nearly a year. The rebel group has routinely attacked commercial and military vessels at sea over Israel’s war against Hamas.
The number of commercial ships passing through the Red Sea has dropped by 90% since the attacks began after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. Since then, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have come under attack dozens of times. In January, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan.
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The oil tanker Sounion burns in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Sept. 14. (European…