The US army said on 15 January that one of its navy destroyers was targeted with an anti-ship cruise missile fired by Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement early on Monday 14 January.
According to the statement, the missile was shot down near the coast of Hodeidah by US fighter jets, and no injuries or damage were reported.
Washington’s Laboon destroyer was deployed to the region on 14 October after US Secretary Defense directed it, along with others, to the Mediterranean in support of Israel’s war on Gaza, Al-Mayadeen news said.
According to Al-Mayadeen, the Laboon warship shot down four Yemeni attack drones on 23 December, as it was heading towards Israel.
The Ansarallah resistance movement and Yemeni armed forces have yet to confirm the attack, which would be the first since the US and UK launched a joint assault on Yemen in response to its pro-Palestine operations in the Red Sea.
The US-British attack was launched early on 12 January, killing several and causing damage in several areas of Yemen. The US followed up with more strikes on Yemen on 13 January.
As part of the operations of the US-led task force established last month to confront Yemen, Washington sank three Yemeni vessels on 31 December, killing ten of Sanaa’s naval officers.
The Yemeni army announced its response on 10 January, saying it launched a large number of missiles and drones at a US ship.
Following the US-UK attack on 12 January, Muhammad Abdul Salam, Sanaa’s UN negotiator and head of the national delegation, said that the “armed forces made an initial response, and we will expand the response very soon,” without specifying further.
Yemen’s naval operations have not killed or injured anyone. They aim to target Israeli-linked ships or vessels bound for Israeli ports to prevent goods from reaching Israel, in response to the aid blockade on the people of Gaza.
Yemen’s Armed Forces have stated that all other ships are free to navigate as they please, and have expressed willingness to cease their attacks when the war on Gaza is ended and when sufficient aid reaches the Palestinians.
“We affirm that America’s hostile measures against Yemen will not prevent the Yemeni armed forces from … supporting the resistance of the brave Palestinian people [and] Yemen will continue to target Israeli ships that are headed towards the ports of occupied Palestine, [and that this will continue] until the aggression stops and the siege of Gaza is lifted,” Abdul Salam said on 14 January.
Source: The Cradle