US fighter jet has shot down an anti-ship cruise missile targeting its Navy destroyer in the Red Sea from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.
USS Laboon came under attack in the Southern Red Sea at 4:45 p.m. local time Sunday, the US Central Command said in a report posted on X.
The missile was shot down off the coast of Hudaydah, it said. There were no injuries or damage reported.
It comes within a week of US-UK joint air strikes against military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen used by the rebel militants to attack commercial vessels in one of the world’s most vital waterways.
The Houthis had vowed to retaliate for the attacks.
Since the October 7 attacks by Hamas led to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, there have been dozens of attacks on international shipping by the rebel movement, which controls much of Yemen.
Houthis control the capital Sanaa and large swathes of the country, including the Red Sea coast. They began targeting what they believe to be Israel-bound vessels in mid-November after first launching missile and drone attacks against Israel itself, in support of the extremist group Hamas.
Now they have widened their target to all international shipping companies, until, they say, Israel allows full humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza.
Nearly 15 per cent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 per cent of global grain trade, 12 per cent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade. International shipping companies continue to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods.
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