A U.S. warship and three commercial vessels were attacked Sunday in the Red Sea off Yemen, an intense development that U.S. officials said appeared “totally permitted by Iran.”
“The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its allies and international partners,” the US Central Command warned in a statement about the incident, which increased maritime tensions in the Middle East during the war between Israel and Hamas.
The USS Carney, which earlier shot down missiles and drones aimed at it while escorting a commercial ship through the war-torn region, was attacked along with at least three commercial ships starting at 10 a.m. local time in an assault that It lasted approximately five hours. , the Pentagon and an anonymous US official said, according to The Associated Press.
The three commercial ships were hit by the missiles, but it did not appear that the American warship was hit.
“We are aware of reports of attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. officials did not identify where the military fire came from. They only said that Carney shot down at least three drones on Sunday.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have proclaimed they would attack ships in the Red Sea because of the Israeli ground incursion into Gaza, later acknowledged that they had attacked two Israeli commercial ships on Sunday, but did not mention the US Navy ship.
The US Navy destroyer USS Carney was allegedly attacked in the Red Sea. PO2 Aaron Lau/US Navy/SWNS The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. ZUMAPRESS.com
The US Central Command said it had “every reason to believe that these attacks, although launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully permitted by Iran.”
The rebel group claimed it had targeted two commercial ships, the Unity Explorer and the Number Nine, because the ships did not heed warnings to leave the region.
The USS Carney had received a distress call from the Explorer after the ship was hit by a ballistic missile, US officials said.
At least one commercial ship was known to have been hit on Sunday, a ship belonging to a British company owned by Danny Ungar, son of Israeli shipping magnate Rami Ungar.
The US Navy destroyer had previously engaged the rebel group on Wednesday when it shot down a drone launched from Yemen, according to Fox News.
Fire Control Chief (Aegis) Kenneth Krull, assigned to USS Carney, mans the combat systems coordinator console in the combat information center. AP
The ship was sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the time of last week’s attack, but there was no damage to the Carney or its crew.
Before last week’s attack, the USS Carney had shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles in the Red Sea fired from Yemen.
The US Central Command has condemned the rebel group’s recent attacks as “a direct threat to international trade and maritime security.”
“They have endangered the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world,” US Central Command said in a statement.
Sunday’s attack on the destroyer and other commercial ships operating in the Red Sea came as the British military said a suspected drone attack and explosion had taken place in the area.
The assault on the USS Carney and two commercial ships lasted about five hours. REUTERS
Last week, Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles in the vicinity of the USS Mason as the warship responded to a distress call from a commercial oil tanker, the Central Park, which was under attack by Somali pirates, the Pentagon said.
Central Park was invaded by armed men who fled when the Mason arrived. Mason pursued the attackers to the shores of Yemen.
The Houthi rebels fired the missiles near the Mason, but the explosives missed the ship and landed in the Gulf of Aden.
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn