US Destroyer Attacked Again From Houthi Territory in Yemen

In a second incident in four days, a US Navy destroyer was targeted in a failed missile attack from Iran-aligned Houthi rebel territory in Yemen on Wednesday, the US military said.

The Pentagon said the USS Mason fired defensive salvos in retaliation to at least one missile. The missile did not hit the ship as it sailed north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait. There are signs that the second salvo brought down an incoming missile, one US official who requested anonymity said.

The latest stab at targeting the US Navy warship will add pressure on the US military to hit back. If that happens, that would signify the first direct US military action against Houthis in Yemen’s conflict. The Pentagon said it would respond in at the proper and in the proper manner.

Retaliation for Funeral Strike

The United States supplies US weapons to Saudi Arabia and provided aerial refueling to a Saudi-led coalition attacking Yemen. Washington Institute for Near East Policy analyst Michael Knights said the missile attacks seemed to be the Houthis response to a strike on funeral-goers assembled in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa last weekend. The attack was broadly blamed on Saudi-led forces.

The US government says it is evaluating its support for Saudi-led forces in Yemen following Saturday’s strike. The attack killed more than 140 people.

Knight said the targeting of US warship indicated the Houthis could come to be more militarily affiliated with groups like Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah.

The USS Mason was also the target of a botched missile strike off Yemen on Sunday.

Along with an October 1 attack on a vessel for the United Arab Emirates, the missile incidents raise uncertainties about safety of passage for military ships across the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The Houthis denied any connection in the previous attempt to strike the USS Mason. But US officials said there are mounting indications that Houthi rebels were to blame for Sunday’s incident.

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