A United States naval ship fired in self-defense Sunday as two commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea in an attack claimed by Yemen‘s Houthi rebel group.
The USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, fired at and struck a drone that was “in the direction of the ship” and launched from a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebel group, a U.S. defense official told the Wall Street Journal. This marks the second time in two weeks that Carney has been targeted by the Houthis, rising to a new escalation point since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
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“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available, later,” the Pentagon said in a statement sent to the Washington Examiner.
The attacks on the commercial ships are believed to have lasted for as much as five hours. A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the U.S. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer wasn’t damaged and no injuries were reported on board, according to the AP.
A U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the attack began at around 10 a.m. in Sanaa, Yemen.
The Houthi rebel group took credit for the attack, which could mark an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, against the vessels, according to a statement uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter. The Houthis did not mention any attacks on U.S. ships, only the Unity Explorer and the Number Nine, both of which the group claims are associated with Israel.
“The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red and Arab Seas until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops,” the Houthis said, the AP reported.
The Houthis have been engaging in a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as well as launching drones and missiles targeted at Israel during the ongoing war. During a November incident, the rebel group shot down a U.S. MQ-9 reaper drone over the sea.
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The Carney has shot down a number of rockets fired towards Israel by the Houthis since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, which resulted in more than 1,200 Israeli deaths and more than 13,000 Palestinians killed in the retaliation effort to destroy Hamas, according to the AP.
Last week, the Carney shot down an Iranian-made drone launched from Yemen when it was operating in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the warship intercepted at least three cruise missiles and several drones during an October incident.
