Growing Evidence Points to Houthi Role in Attack On US Destroyer

Despite denials of accountability in Sunday’s missile attack on a Navy Destroyer off the Yemen coast, United States officials said that there are increasing signs that Iran-allied Houthi rebels are responsible.

The US officials are not allowed to speak publicly due to the ongoing investigation. They said that the rebels seemed to use small skiffs as spotters. These tiny vessels help lead a missile attack on the USS Mason.

The US is also investigating the likelihood that a Houthi radar station in Yemen may have also “painted” the warship.

The incident threatens to provoke the first US military action against Houti’s in Yemen’s conflict. However, neither of the two missiles launched from Houthi-controlled territory on Sunday hit the USS Mason.

Possible retaliatory strike

The Houthis have publicly denied any part in the strike. But details of Sunday’s incident that are coming out would provide added support to the Pentagon’s contentions that the facts point to Houthi involvement. The US military even implied on Tuesday at possible arrangements for a retaliatory strike.

The Pentagon declared, anybody who takes action against US Navy vessels in international waters do so at their own peril.

The US military has acknowledged that only the first of the two missiles came close enough to activate the USS Mason’s defenses. But it is still unclear if those defenses were needed to prevent a direct hit or whether they caused the missile to splash down early. It was also not known whether the missile would have fallen short anyway.

The second missile was fired an hour later. The USS Mason did not consider it necessary to use its defenses since the missile was far enough away from the warship.

The Houthis had previously avoided targeting US military ships.

The Zaydi fighters drove the Saudi Arabia-supported Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi from the capital in 2014. They are allied to Hadi’s predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh and have the support of several army units. They control most of North Yemen including its capital, Sanaa.

The conflict in Yemen killed more than 10,000 people so far. It also brought parts of the country to the verge of starvation.

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