Houthis Fire Cruise Missile at US Navy Destroyer in Red Sea

In December, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a multinational operation to secure the Red Sea, saying that the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would take part in the mission.

US Navy destroyer the Laboon was attacked by a cruise missile fired from a Houthi militant area of Yemen, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"On January 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by US fighter aircraft. There were no injuries or damage reported," CENTCOM said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).

In the early hours of Friday, the US and UK military carried out 23 airstrikes on targets in four provinces in different parts of Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa and the cities of Al Hudaydah, Taizz and Sadah, local government sources told Sputnik. Later in the day, the US Air Forces Central said that US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen had hit more than 60 targets in 16 different locations.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria later said that the US and the UK had carried out 73 strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, killing five fighters and injuring six others. A member of Houthis' high political council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, described the Western attacks as "barbaric terrorism" and "deliberate and unjustified aggression."

In December, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a multinational operation to secure the Red Sea, saying the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would participate in the mission. The Houthis vowed to attack any ships joining the US-led naval coalition.

In November, the Houthis announced their intention to attack any ships affiliated with Israel and called on other countries to recall their crews from the vessels. The Houthis vowed to continue their attacks until Israel ended its military campaign in Gaza it had launched in retalitaion to Hamas' attacks on its territory back in October, 2023.