WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Tuesday warned that whoever fired missiles at a U.S. Navy destroyer and an accompanying ship off the coast of Yemen over the weekend had done so “at their own peril,” language that suggested preparations for possible retaliation.

Two shore-launched cruise missiles, which U.S. officials believe were designed to hit vessels at sea, were fired at the U.S. Navy ships on Sunday from Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen, just north of the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Both failed to hit the ships but the attack, which was first reported by Reuters, could deepen U.S. involvement in Yemen. U.S. military action in the country has largely been reserved for the battle against al Qaeda’s affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, not the Houthis.

“Anybody who takes action, fires against U.S. Navy ships operating in international waters, does so at their own peril,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told a news briefing.

Asked whether the Pentagon was developing targets for retaliatory strikes, Davis said: “I’m not confirming that right now.”

U.S. support for a Saudi Arabia-led coalition battling the Houthis has been reduced in recent months, and had been under review amid growing concerns about civilian casualties in Yemen’s war. It includes refueling Saudi jets that are carrying out strikes.

The Houthis, allies of Iran who drove the Western- and Saudi Arabia-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi from the capital in 2014, have denied firing at the USS Mason guided missile destroyer and the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport dock.

But U.S. officials have told Reuters that Washington is operating under the assumption that Houthi forces fired the cruise missiles on Sunday.

Davis suggested as much on Tuesday, noting that the Houthis had previously acknowledged responsibility for firing on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates a week earlier.

“The Houthis have said publicly before that they would target any ships in that area that were supporting the coalition against them,” Davis said.

“So the facts certainly seem to point to it, but we are still assessing and we will have more for you.”

The strikes against the UAE and U.S. vessels risks disrupting commercial traffic through the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s busiest routes.

While shipping companies have yet to divert vessels, there are growing worries that an escalation could hinder oil supplies and lead to higher insurance costs. Nearly four million barrels of oil are shipped daily through the Bab al-Mandab gateway to Europe, the United States and Asia.

The UN last week said it took threats to shipping around Bab al-Mandeb “extremely seriously.”</s>The USS Mason fired defensive salvos in response to at least one missile which did not hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Pentagon said. Indications are that the second salvo brought down an incoming missile, one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The renewed attempt to target the U.S. Navy destroyer will add pressure on the U.S. military to retaliate, a move that would represent the first direct U.S. military action against Houthis in Yemen's conflict. The Pentagon said it would respond "at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner."

The United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, has provided aerial refueling of jets from a Saudi-led coalition striking Yemen and it supplies U.S. weapons sales to the kingdom.

Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen's conflict at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the missile attacks appeared to be the Houthis' response to an attack last weekend, widely blamed on Saudi-led forces, on mourners gathered in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The White House says it is reviewing its support for Saudi-led forces in Yemen in the wake of Saturday's strike, which killed at least 140 people by one count.

Knights said the targeting of U.S. warship suggested the Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, could be becoming more militarily aligned with groups like Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah.

"Targeting U.S. warships is a sign that the Houthis have decided to join the axis of resistance that currently includes Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran," Knight said.

The USS Mason was also the target of a failed missile attack off Yemen on Sunday, and the Navy praised the resolve of sailors aboard the ship.

"The team in USS Mason demonstrated initiative and toughness as they defended themselves and others against these unfounded attacks over the weekend and again today," the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said.

"All Americans should be proud of them," he said.

The missile incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, denied any involvement in the previous attempt to strike the USS Mason.

But U.S. officials have told Reuters there are growing indications that Houthi rebels, despite those denials, were responsible for Sunday's incident.

The rebels appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct the missile attack on the warship on Sunday. The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also "painted" the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Houthi fighters pass along coordinates for a strike, the officials have said.

The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa.

Reuters has learned that the coastal defense cruise missiles used against the USS Mason on Sunday had considerable range, adding to concerns about the kind of heavy weaponry that the Houthis appear willing to employ and some of which U.S. officials believe is supplied by Iran.

Although the United States has provided limited support for the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis, it also has reserved its direct military role in Yemen to the fight against al Qaeda's affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

That general U.S. policy might still remain in place, even if it opts to carry out one-off retaliatory strikes.

Yemen's war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of the country to the brink of starvation.</s>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A ballistic missile launched from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi and rebel media reported Monday, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies.

Saudi state television aired a brief clip of what appeared to be a projectile landing in Taif and the flash of an explosion, following by images of emergency vehicles. Taif is home to Saudi Arabia’s King Fahad Air Base, which hosts U.S. military personnel training the kingdom’s armed forces.

The Saudi military said the missile fired late Saturday night caused no damage. The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al-Masirah, a satellite news channel run by Yemen’s Shiite rebels known as Houthis, identified the missile as a local variant of a Soviet-era Scud missile. It said the Volcano-1 missile targeted the air base.

The Houthis have fired a series of ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia since a kingdom-led coalition of Arab countries has launched an offensive against them in Yemen in March 2015. Most of those ballistic missiles have hit areas far closer to Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen, like an attack Friday night targeting the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.

In the Taif attack, however, the missile struck a target more than 520 kilometers (325 miles) from the border. Taif also is just outside of Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that all of the world’s Muslims pray toward.

The Saudi military also said it earlier intercepted another ballistic missile fired Sunday on the Yemeni city of Marib.

Houthis gave no reason for their targeting of Taif, but it comes after a Saudi-led airstrike Saturday targeting a funeral in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killed over 140 people and wounded 525. On Sunday, thousands marched through the streets of Sanaa to protest the strike, one of the deadliest single attacks in the impoverished Arab country’s relentless civil war.

Yemen’s war is largely overshadowed by the conflict against the Islamic State group elsewhere in the Middle East, though rights groups have mounted increased criticism of the Saudi-led airstrikes in recent months for killing civilians. The U.N. and rights groups estimate the conflict has killed at least 9,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million more.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.</s>The USS Mason fired defensive salvos in response to at least one missile which did not hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Pentagon said. Indications are that the second salvo brought down an incoming missile, one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The renewed attempt to target the U.S. Navy destroyer will add pressure on the U.S. military to retaliate, a move that would represent the first direct U.S. military action against Houthis in Yemen's conflict. The Pentagon said it would respond "at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner."

The United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, has provided aerial refueling of jets from a Saudi-led coalition striking Yemen and it supplies U.S. weapons sales to the kingdom.

Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen's conflict at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the missile attacks appeared to be the Houthis' response to an attack last weekend, widely blamed on Saudi-led forces, on mourners gathered in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The White House says it is reviewing its support for Saudi-led forces in Yemen in the wake of Saturday's strike, which killed at least 140 people by one count.

Knights said the targeting of U.S. warship suggested the Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, could be becoming more militarily aligned with groups like Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah.

"Targeting U.S. warships is a sign that the Houthis have decided to join the axis of resistance that currently includes Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran," Knight said.

The USS Mason was also the target of a failed missile attack off Yemen on Sunday, and the Navy praised the resolve of sailors aboard the ship.

"The team in USS Mason demonstrated initiative and toughness as they defended themselves and others against these unfounded attacks over the weekend and again today," the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said.

"All Americans should be proud of them," he said.

The missile incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, denied any involvement in the previous attempt to strike the USS Mason.

But U.S. officials have told Reuters there are growing indications that Houthi rebels, despite those denials, were responsible for Sunday's incident.

The rebels appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct the missile attack on the warship on Sunday. The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also "painted" the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Houthi fighters pass along coordinates for a strike, the officials have said.

The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa.

Reuters has learned that the coastal defense cruise missiles used against the USS Mason on Sunday had considerable range, adding to concerns about the kind of heavy weaponry that the Houthis appear willing to employ and some of which U.S. officials believe is supplied by Iran.

Although the United States has provided limited support for the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis, it also has reserved its direct military role in Yemen to the fight against al Qaeda's affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

That general U.S. policy might still remain in place, even if it opts to carry out one-off retaliatory strikes.

Yemen's war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of the country to the brink of starvation.</s>WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said on Wednesday the United States would respond “at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner” to repeated missile attacks on a US destroyer off the Yemeni coast.

According to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, USS Mason on Wednesday was fired on with at least one missile off the Red Sea coast of Yemen.

“The ship employed defensive countermeasures and the missile did not reach USS Mason,” said Cook in a statement. “There was no damage to the ship or its crew.”

It was the second time in four days that USS Mason was targeted around that areas, and in his brief statement on Wednesday, Cook said the missile detected by US military on Wednesday “originated from Houthi-controlled territory near Al Hudaydah, Yemen.” PNA/Xinhua</s>(CNN) Two missiles targeted a US warship off the coast of Yemen on Sunday but missed the vessel and hit the water instead, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The missiles were fired at the USS Mason from Houthi-controlled territory in war-torn Yemen, Capt. Jeff Davis said, adding that the guided-missile destroyer deployed "onboard defensive measures" and was undamaged.

But the Houthis -- a minority Shia group that has taken control of much of Yemen, including the capital -- denied Monday that its forces had targeted the warship.

An official from the Houthi-controlled military said the reports were aimed at covering up a "heinous" Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a wake Saturday in the capital, Sanaa, that officials said killed at least 155 people, the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency reported.

"Reports that allege that Yemeni rockets targeted ships off the Yemeni (coast) are baseless," the official said.

The US warship was in international waters more than 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore, in the southern end of the Red Sea, north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to a defense official.

The missiles were launched within 60 minutes of each other, Davis said.

"We assess the missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. The United States remains committed to ensuring freedom of navigation everywhere in the world, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our service members," he said.

But on Saturday the US said it was reevaluating its support after the deadly wake airstrike.

The Saudi-led coalition had earlier denied accusations that it was responsible for the attack and said it would "immediately investigate" reports that its warplanes were behind the airstrikes, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Since peace talks in Kuwait failed in August, the coalition has intensified airstrikes, despite vocal criticism from rights groups that the bombardments have been indiscriminate and could constitute war crimes. The attacks have often hit civilian targets with devastating results.

Critics of the military deal, which was approved by the Obama administration, complained it could further drag the US into the war in Yemen and contribute to the worsening humanitarian crisis there.

Civilian casualties are only part of the crisis. Yemen's UNICEF office has reported that nearly 10,000 children younger than 5 died from preventable diseases there during the past year.

Some 1.5 million children are currently malnourished in Yemen, and 370,000 of them suffer from severe acute malnutrition, according to the charity.

Yemen's economic infrastructure has also been ravaged by war.

At least 430 factories and companies were destroyed by coalition airstrikes since the start of the conflict, according to Ahmed Bahri, political chief of the Sanaa-based Haq Party.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said Monday, the second such launch targeting ships in the waterway in recent days.

The missile launches Sunday came the day after a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies.

On Monday, the rebels fired another two missiles into the Saudi Jizan region along the border, wounding two foreigners who worked there, the local civil defense said in a statement.

Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed more than 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday.

In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were wounded and no damage was caused to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Va. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command, said it's unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour's time, starting at about 7 p.m.

A U.S. defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn't clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea. The destroyer was north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the situation that haven't been made public.

The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency of Yemen quoted an anonymous army official denying its forces fired on the USS Mason, without elaborating.

Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

U.S. Navy officials declined to immediately discuss what kind of rockets were used in the USS Mason case.

Analysts with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy suggested in a report that the Houthis may have targeted the Emirati ship with an Iranian anti-shipping cruise missile, based on purported video of the attack.

Shiite power Iran supports the Houthis, but denies arming them. Any Iranian involvement could exacerbate tensions with the U.S. after a series of tense naval encounters in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

Saudi state television aired a brief clip of what appeared to be a projectile that was said to have landed in Taif, in the ballistic missile attack. The video shows the flash of an explosion, followed by images of emergency vehicles. Taif is home to Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Air Base, which hosts U.S. military personnel training the kingdom's armed forces.

The Saudi military said the missile fired late Saturday was intercepted and caused no damage. The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, identified the missile as a local variant of a Soviet-era Scud. It said the Volcano-1 missile targeted the air base.

The Houthis have fired a series of ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia since a kingdom-led coalition of Arab countries launched an offensive against them in Yemen in March 2015. Most of those ballistic missiles have hit areas far closer to Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen.

In the Taif attack, however, the missile struck a target more than 325 miles from the border. Taif also is just outside of Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that all of the world's Muslims pray toward.

Regarding the attack on the funeral in Yemen, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said its U.N. mission sent a letter on Sunday to the Security Council, expressing the kingdom's "deep regret." Saudi officials have promised to investigate the bombing.

Yemen's war is largely overshadowed by the conflict against the Islamic State militant group elsewhere in the Middle East, though rights groups have mounted increased criticism of the Saudi-led airstrikes in recent months for killing civilians. The U.N. and rights groups estimate the conflict has killed at least 9,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million more.

Information for this article was contributed by Maggie Michael, Brian Rohan and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press.</s>WASHINGTON — The U.S. is weighing what military response it should take against Yemen-based Houthi rebels, who U.S. officials say launched two missiles at American warships in the Red Sea on Sunday, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. is still investigating the unprecedented incident, including the exact location of the missile launches. Asked if the U.S. was developing targets for a possible retaliatory strike, he said he could not confirm that.

"Those things are things that we're looking at," Davis told Pentagon reporters. "We want very much to get to the bottom of what happened. We're going to find out who did this and we'll take action accordingly."

He added that "we will make sure that anybody who interferes with freedom of navigation or anybody who puts U.S. Navy ships at risk understands that they do so at their own peril."

U.S. officials believe Iranian-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, launched variants of the so-called Silkworm missile at the USS Mason and the USS Ponce. Both missiles fell harmlessly into the water. The Silkworm is a type of coastal cruise missile that Iran has been known to use.

This was the first time that U.S. ships were targeted by a missile launch from Yemen. Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

Davis said the commander of the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer, believed the initial missile was a threat to his ship or to the USS Ponce, an amphibious warship accompanying the USS Mason. The USS Mason took defensive action against the first missile, but Davis would not say exactly what countermeasure or weapon was used.

It wasn't clear if the ship's defensive attack took down the missile or if it simply fell into the water. The second missile fell into the water before any countermeasures were used.

Davis said the USS Mason didn't launch a counteroffensive against the Houthis, but he would not go into a detailed explanation, saying that military rules of engagement are classified. The U.S., however, requires significant analysis before launching strikes on a location where there could be innocent civilians.

The missile attacks came on the heels of two other attacks against Saudi sites. A ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies. The rebels fired another two missiles into the Saudi Jizan region along the border on Monday, wounding two foreigners who worked there, the local civil said in a statement.

The Houthis and their allies have offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed more than 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday.

The deliberations about how to retaliate to the missile launches come as the U.S. considers withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis following Saturday's airstrike on the funeral and other troubling incidents of civilian casualties as a result of the Saudi bombing campaign.

Human rights groups have expressed outrage over the deaths and accused the U.S. of complicity, leading the White House to say it was conducting a "review" to ensure U.S. with longtime partner Saudi Arabia is in line with "U.S. principles, values and interests."</s>Saudi air defense forces shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi militia toward Khamees Mushait city in the kingdom's southwest on Tuesday night, a Saudi-led coalition said in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA.

The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces destroyed the missile before it could cause any damage, according to the statement by the coalition, which since March 2015 has been fighting the Houthis to try to restore the Saudi-backed government of exiled president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Saudi forces responded to the missile attack by attacking the launch site, the statement added.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said Monday, the second such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in recent days.

The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies. The rebels fired another two missiles into the Saudi Jizan region along the border on Monday, wounding two foreigners who worked there, the local civil defense said in a statement.

Yemen’s Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen’s capital killed over 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday.

In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were wounded and no damage was caused to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Virginia. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command, said that it’s unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour’s time, starting at around 7 p.m.

An American defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn’t clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea. The destroyer was north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident that haven’t been made public.
The Obama administration through the U.S. Defense Department says it will take appropriate action against those responsible for October 9 unsuccessful cruise missile attack, apparently fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, upon the USS Mason.