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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Russia Sends More Jets, Pounds Rebel Held Territories in Aleppo

Air strikes by Russian war planes intensified in rebel held areas East of Aleppo on Saturday. The air strikes are in support of the Syrian Army’s major offensive which includes shelling eastern Aleppo with artillery. The Syrian governments offensive is on its 10^th day in an effort to recapture the last remaining rebel stronghold.

The Russian planes targeted major supply lines in the Castello Road and Malah District. Ground battles on the other hand, raged in the Suleiman al Halabi neighborhood.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that Moscow was ready to consider more ways to “normalize the situation in Aleppo”.

However, Lavrov said that the U.S. failed to separate the moderate rebel groups from the Islamist faction which the Russians call terrorist. This failure allowed the terrorist group formerly known as the Nusra front to violate the US-Russian truce agreed on September 9.

Russia and Assad disregarded the ceasefire to initiate a new intensified offensive. The renewed offensive is possibly the biggest operation they have implemented in the Syrian civil war.

No Ground Re-taken

Amid intensified efforts by the Russian air strikes and the Syrian army offensive, rebels have stood their ground and repelled the assault.

Rebels say that Syrian troops supported by Iranian-backed militias were having a difficult time to retake any ground in the frontline of the city. Abu Hamam, one of the rebels defending the city said. “They are shelling the old city heavily after another failed attempt to gain ground. Moreover, they have lost several fighters and we are steadfast.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group is monitoring the war. They have reported “back and forth” fighting in the Suleiman al-Halabi neighborhood. They also reported at least 20 casualties in the Russian and Syrian strikes on Friday through the early morning of Saturday.

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