US fighter jet shoots down an anti-ship cruise missile targeting a destroyer in the Red Sea – as Houthi rebels hit back at America for bombing sites across Yemen over them attacking trade ships amid Israel’s war against Hamas

A US fighter jet shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by Houthi rebels at a US destroyer in the Red Sea on Sunday, their first response to a series of drone strikes launched by the Americans in recent days.

The United States and its allies began attacks on the rebels on Friday, following weeks of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted the crucial corridor connecting energy and cargo shipments from Asia and the Middle East to the Suez Canal and then to Europe amid the war between Israel and Hamas. These attacks threaten to expand the conflict into a regional conflagration.

An Iranian-linked Shia rebel group that seized Yemen’s capital in 2014. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

It was not immediately clear whether the US would retaliate for the latest attack, although President Joe Biden has said he “will not hesitate to take further action as necessary to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce.”

The Houthi fire on Sunday was headed toward the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, the U.S. 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.

“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas in Yemen towards USS Laboon,” Central Command said. “No injuries or damage were reported.”

The first day of US-led strikes Friday hit 28 locations and hit more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine.

The affected locations include weapons depots, radars and command centers, including in remote mountain areas, the US said.

The Houthis have yet to acknowledge the extent of the damage caused by the attacks, which they say killed five of their troops and injured six others.

American troops followed an attack on a Houthi radar site on Saturday.

Shipping through the Red Sea has been slowed by the attacks. The US Navy on Friday warned US-flagged ships to avoid areas around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for 72 hours after the first airstrikes.

For their part, the Houthis claimed, without providing evidence, that the US had hit a site near Hodeida around the same time on Sunday as cruise missiles hit a site near Hodeida.

The Americans and Britain did not acknowledge that they had carried out an attack, suggesting the blast may have come from a failed Houthi missile.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea, claiming they were taking revenge Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

But they have often targeted ships with weak or no apparent ties to Israel, endangering shipping on a key global trade route.

Although the Biden administration and its allies have tried to do so calms tensions in the Middle East for weeks and to prevent a wider conflict, the strikes threatened to ignite one.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government-in-exile that the Houthis are fighting, sought to distance itself from the attacks on Houthi sites as it tries to maintain a delicate détente with Iran and a ceasefire in Yemen.

The Saudi-led, US-backed war in Yemen that began in 2015 has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands.

The US military did not specifically say the fire was aimed at the Laboon, following a US pattern since the Houthi attacks began.

However, American sailors have been awarded combat ribbons for their actions in the Red Sea, something only awarded to those who encounter active hostilities with an enemy force.