US retaliates with airstrikes on Yemen coast after ship attack

[DUBAI] The US military launched three airstrikes on areas controlled by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said, after a navy ship was targeted by two failed missile attacks this week.

The strikes targeted radar sites involved in "recent missile launches threatening USS Mason and other vessels" operating in international waters in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

The initial assessments show the sites were destroyed, he said.

"These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway," Mr Cook said.

"The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate."

On Sunday, two missiles that the US said were fired from Houthi-controlled territories targeted the USS Mason but hit the water, causing no damage.

Captain Jeff Davis, a Defense Department spokesman, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the ship came under attack for a second time.

It deployed "defensive measures" at the first cruise missile, while the second "splashed and crashed," hitting the water, he said.

BLOOMBERG