Three U.S. warships were attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen on Friday, disrupting commercial shipping in the region but causing no injuries, officials said.
The warship shot down about 20 incoming missiles and drones while passing through the narrow entrance to the Red Sea. U.S. officials told Fox News that no ships were hit and no crew members were injured.
USS Stockdale, USS Spruance, and the littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis were attacked by a barrage of incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones as they passed through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, officials said.
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Houthi militants march at a rally in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (AP photo, file)
“We have confirmed that the Houthis have launched a complex attack, including cruise missiles and waves,” Sabrina Singh, a deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters on Friday. “My understanding is that they were either engaged, shot down, or failed.”
Stockdale and Spruance are part of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which recently arrived in the Middle East from the Pacific.
For nearly a year, the U.S. military has launched multiple counterattacks against Houthi militants. Rebel groups regularly attack merchant ships and military vessels at sea over Israel's war against Hamas.
Since the attacks began after the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, the number of commercial ships passing through the Red Sea has decreased by 90%. Since then, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked dozens of times. In January, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan.
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On September 14, the oil tanker Sounion burst into flames in the Red Sea after a series of attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels. (European Union Operation Aspides via AP)
The Houthis recently attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker that contained four times the amount of oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989. There was no major oil spill, and officials said the fire on board the ship was extinguished. .
The ship drifted in the Red Sea for several days and was towed back into port after flames were visible on the deck.
Following Friday's attack, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) said the Houthis' actions were “nothing short of an act of war.”
“Months of efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to take ‘defensive action’ in the Red Sea have completely failed,” he wrote in X. “The time has come to take decisive action to punish the Houthis and show the world the consequences of the U.S. attack.” ”
In a debate with former President Trump, Vice President Harris asserted, “As of today, there is not a single American military member on active duty in any combat zone around the world. This is the first time this century.” . ”
At the time of Harris' comments, elite American special forces had just days earlier carried out a raid into western Iraq to kill ISIS leaders. A number of soldiers were injured, including one whose leg was hit by shrapnel and required surgery.
Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyer USS Laboon sails through the Red Sea. Three US warships were attacked by Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea on Friday. (AP Photo/Bernat Armang)
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Air Strike Group returned to Norfolk, Virginia, in July after dropping 420 bombs on Houthi targets in Yemen. The strike group's warships fired 155 interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming Houthi missiles and drones.
“While this outcome, in which U.S. warships shoot down incoming missiles, is now expected, it is important to remember that missile defense has long been criticized as a fool's errand,” said James Seiling, former head of the Missile Defense Agency. said the US Navy Vice Admiral. “If we hadn't maintained our commitment to this mission, tonight's conversation would have been very different.”
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At least 135 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched into Yemen from a US warship, and fighter jets aboard the ship fired 60 air-to-air missiles to shoot down an incoming Houthi drone. did.
