Missiles From Yemen Came Close to Hitting US Ship

Pentagon Says Missiles Might Have Targeted Destroyer Off Yemen's Coast

A high-profile, but very questionable incident was reported today by the Pentagon, as US officials claimed a pair of missiles landed sort of near the USS Mason, off the coast of Yemen. They conceded they had no clue if the missiles were meant to have been fired at the US guided missile destroyer, but they didn’t hit anything or do any damage.

Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthis denied firing any missiles at any US ships in the area, and claimed that the reports were centered on trying to distract the public from Saturday’s Saudi airstrikes against a funeral home, the deadliest attack of the war.

In a separate move seen as a retaliatory strike against the Saudis over that attack, which killed at least 155 people, Yemen’s Houthis reportedly fired a ballistic missile at a Saudi military base in central Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government claimed the missile was intercepted.

The US has participated in the Saudi war against Yemen, with ongoing refueling operations for Saudi bombers and intermittent participation in the naval blockade. Between this and substantial US arms sales to the Saudis, it might’ve been plausible that US forces in the waters off of Yemen might be seen as a military target, though in this situation that does not appear to have been the case.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.