Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels launched a missile Friday at a U.S. warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile, and also struck a British vessel as their aggressive attacks on maritime traffic continue.
The attack on the destroyer USS Carney marked a further escalation in the biggest confrontation at sea the U.S. Navy has seen in the Middle East in decades.
The anti-ship ballistic missile was fired at about 1.30 p.m. local time Friday from Houthi-controlled Yemen toward the USS Carney, U.S. Central Command reported.
The missile was shot down by the Carney and caused no damage or injuries. A little over six hours later, on Friday evening, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which oversees Mideast waterways, acknowledged a vessel had been struck by a missile and was on fire in the Gulf of Aden. The anti-ship ballistic missile struck the M/V Marlin Luanda – which is British-owned but flies under a Marshall Islands flag – at about 7:45 p.m. local time, CENTCOM reported. (CBS)
