2024-01-15 03:38:02
The US Central Command announced before dawn on Monday that the Houthis targeted the destroyer USS Laboon with an anti-ship missile in the Red Sea, in what appeared to be a response to the raids launched by Washington and London on their sites in Yemen.
The Central Command said via the “X” platform that an American fighter shot down the cruise missile that was launched from an area under Houthi control at the American destroyer on the coast of Hodeidah Governorate, western Yemen.
She added that the Houthi attack in the southern Red Sea did not result in damage or injuries.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, Abdel Fattah Fayed, described the targeting of the US aircraft carrier as a remarkable development because it means that the conflict is expanding in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and Bab al-Mandawb.
Fayed said that what happened indicates that the Houthis are implementing their threats to target “enemy forces” on land and at sea, which is what was stated in the group’s statement following the American-British bombing of several areas in Yemen.
Under the pretext of responding to the Houthis’ targeting of commercial ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, the United States and Britain on Friday carried out raids on dozens of targets in Yemen, within the framework of the new coalition that was announced recently.
The next day, the US army carried out unilateral bombing on sites in Sanaa and Hodeidah, and the Houthis vowed a strong response to these strikes.
A British Typhoon fighter took off from Cyprus to bomb sites in Yemen (Getty)
Intense flying
The Houthi group spoke of a new bombing targeting sites in Yemen yesterday, Sunday, but Washington and London denied this.
Local sources in Hodeidah said that the city witnessed heavy flights of American fighters, while others targeted Houthi sites in the governorate on Saturday.
Strategic Communications Coordinator at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said that his country does not seek conflict with the Houthis.
For his part, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed his country’s readiness to launch more strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, if commercial and military ships continue to be attacked in the Red Sea.
On the other hand, the American magazine Newsweek quoted the Iranian delegate to the United Nations as saying that “any country participating in the military aggression once morest Yemen may expose itself to danger.”
For his part, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, called on all parties concerned to avoid actions that would lead to aggravation of the situation, or escalate the threat to maritime trade routes, and increase regional tensions.
In a related development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi affirmed his refusal to use military force once morest Yemen, noting that the international community has not authorized any country to launch strikes in Yemen.
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