By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Navy warship on Thursday took out three missiles and several other drones that had been fired from Yemen and had been heading north, the Pentagon mentioned.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, instructed reporters Thursday that the USS Carney, a Navy destroyer within the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land assault cruise missiles and several other drones that had been launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. He mentioned they had been shot down over the water.
“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” Ryder mentioned in a Pentagon briefing. A U.S. official mentioned they don’t consider the missiles had been aimed on the ship. That official spoke on situation of anonymity to debate navy operations that had not but been introduced.
Ryder mentioned the missiles had been shot down as a result of they “posed a potential threat” based mostly on their flight profile, including that the U.S. is ready to do no matter is required “to protect our partners and our interests in this important region.” He mentioned the U.S. continues to be assessing what the goal was.
He mentioned no U.S. forces or civilians on the bottom had been injured.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have expressed assist for the Palestinians and threatened Israel. Last week, in Yemen’s Sanaa, which is held by the Houthi rebels nonetheless at battle with a Saudi-led coalition, demonstrators crowded the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels’ slogan lengthy has been, “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam.”
Last week, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the insurgent group’s chief, warned the United States in opposition to intervening within the ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas, threatening that his forces would retaliate by firing drones and missiles. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
When approached Thursday, two Houthi officers declined to touch upon the incident. One mentioned he was unaware of the incident, whereas the second mentioned he didn’t have the authority to discuss it.
Associated Press author Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from Cairo.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”