A US warship and several commercial ships were attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday, the Pentagon reported. The Houthi militia in Yemen says it attacked two Israeli ships in the area.
The US warship USS Carney was attacked by drones in the Red Sea on Sunday, December 3, the Pentagon said. (archive photo).
The Pentagon reported that a US warship and several commercial ships were attacked by drones in the Red Sea. The source of the attack was not revealed, the Associated Press wrote.
Earlier on Sunday, the British military reported explosions and drone attacks in the Red Sea.
A spokesman for the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen said that the group carried out attacks on two Israeli ships in the Red Sea on Sunday, Reuters reported. According to the spokesman, the two ships were attacked after they refused to listen to the warnings of the militia’s navy.
The spokesman continues to say that the attacks will continue as long as Israel continues the war with Hamas. He did not comment on the attack on the American warship.
The Houthi militia, which controls large parts of the Yemeni coastal strip towards the Red Sea, carried out a number of attacks on ships in the region recently. The group has also attacked Israel with drones and missiles since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7.
Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said that the two ships that were attacked on Sunday had no connection to the State of Israel. This is what Reuters wrote.
It could mean escalation
We have received reports of attacks on the US destroyer USS Carney and commercial ships in the Red Sea. A statement issued by the Pentagon on Sunday said, “We will provide the information when it becomes available.”
The attack could represent a major escalation in a series of naval attacks in the Middle East, linked to the war between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reported.
The attack is said to have begun around 10 a.m. local time in Sanaa, Yemen, and lasted about five hours.
A US official told the Associated Press that the US warship shot down two drones, one in self-defense and the other in defense of a commercial ship.
The USS Carney was also previously involved in clashes where the Houthi militia attacked commercial ships, ABC wrote. According to the Associated Press, the warship also shot down several missiles fired by the Houthi militia at Israel.
The warship was not damaged in the attack, and there were no reports that anyone on board was injured.
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