The Pentagon said Tuesday that the Houthis fired on two US Navy destroyers while they were leaving the Red Sea as the nearly year-long US bombing campaign in Yemen has done nothing to deter the Yemeni group.
According to the AP, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Houthis fired at least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles, and three anti-ship cruise missiles at the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance.
Ryder said that no US personnel were injured in the attack and that there was no damage to the US vessels. He said the missiles and drones were “successfully engaged.”
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, took credit for the attack. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said Yemeni forces targeted two US destroyers and an aircraft carrier, but there was no word from the Pentagon about a US aircraft carrier coming under attack.
The Houthi attack took place on Monday as the US destroyers were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait on their way to the Gulf of Aden. The attack came after the US launched a series of airstrikes that the Pentagon claimed targeted Houthi weapons sites in Yemen.
The US began bombing Yemen in defense of Israeli shipping back in January, but the Houthis have only escalated their attacks. The Houthis started their campaign against Israeli shipping in response to the US-backed Israeli genocidal war in Gaza and have said they would stop if there were a ceasefire.
From 2015-2022, the US supported a Saudi/UAE war against the Houthis, which involved heavy airstrikes and a blockade, and the Houthis only became a more capable fighting force during that time.
According to the UN, the war killed at least 377,000 people, with more than half dying of starvation and disease caused by the siege. A ceasefire between the Houthis and Saudis has held relatively well since April 2022, but new US sanctions are blocking the implementation of a lasting peace deal.
