Yemen's Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, but a US fighter jet shot it down in the latest attack roiling global shipping amid Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the AP reports. The attack marks the first US-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group allied with Iran that seized Yemen's capital in 2014, have targeted that crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe over the Israel-Hamas war, attacks that threaten to widen that conflict into a regional conflagration.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the US would retaliate for the latest attack, though President Biden has said he "will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary." The Houthi fire on Sunday went in the direction of the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, the US military's Central Command said in a statement. The missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the US said. No injuries or damage were reported.
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