A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer was targeted on Sunday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters, saying the two missiles failed to hit the ship.

"USS Mason detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period while in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.

"There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship," he said.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy says two missiles were fired in the direction of an American destroyer in the Persian Gulf from territory held by Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The Navy says the missile launch Sunday night landed in the water before getting near the USS Mason.

Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a Navy spokesman, said Monday it's unclear if the Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction.

The missile launches comes after an Emirati ship was targeted several days ago by missiles apparently fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen known as Houthis and their allies.

The missile fire comes after a ballistic missile launched 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.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. Navy said early today that two missiles were fired in the direction of an American destroyer in the Persian Gulf from territory held by Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The Navy says the missile launch Sunday night landed in the water before getting near the USS Mason.

Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a Navy spokesman, said it's unclear if the Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction.

The missile launches come after a United Arab Emirates ship was targeted several days ago by missiles apparently fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen known as Houthis and their allies.

The missile fire also comes after a ballistic missile launched 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.

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 325 miles from the border. Taif also is just outside of Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba toward which all of the world's Muslims pray.

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 more than 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.

The rebel-controlled Health Ministry gave a lower death toll for Saturday's strike, saying that 115 bodies had been counted but that the number will likely rise because "charred remains" were still being identified. Of the 600 wounded it tallied, it said many cases were serious and at least 300 would need treatment abroad.

Some of the demonstrators who marched outside the U.N. building in southern Sanaa blamed the organization for not ending the conflict and urged an independent investigation. Some protesters brandished automatic weapons and rebel supporters in the crowd called on people from the region to rise up and attack Saudi Arabia.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke by phone with top Saudi officials and called for an immediate "cessation of hostilities," the State Department said in a statement. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi deputy crown prince, said his government was prepared to "institute a renewable 72-hour cessation as soon as possible, provided the Houthis will agree."

The Saudi military announced early Sunday it would launch an investigation into "reports about the regrettable and painful bombing" in Sanaa, without acknowledging that its coalition battling rebels in Yemen is the only force with air power in the conflict. Previous investigations by the Saudis have blamed Houthi or rebel forces for gathering near the sites of their attacks.

It is the latest in a string of bombings by the coalition that have struck hospitals, markets and other places where civilians congregate.

"The place has been turned into a lake of blood," said one rescuer, Murad Tawfiq.

Yemeni officials said the dead and wounded included military and security officials from the ranks of the Shiite Houthis rebels and their allies, loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi decried the attacks in a televised address, saying that they had been done with U.S. weapons and with a "green light" from Washington. Saleh also took to state TV to call on citizens to head to the Saudi border and attack soldiers there to avenge the deaths. The rebel alliance is battling the internationally-recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Saturday's funeral was held for Sheikh Ali al-Rawishan, the father of Galal al-Rawishan, the interior minister in the rebel-led government. Among those killed was Maj. Gen. Abdul-Qader Hilal, head of the capital's local council, officials said, while Galal al-Rawishan was seriously wounded.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing in a statement Sunday, saying that "any deliberate attack against civilians is utterly unacceptable ... Those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice."

Information for this article was contributed by Jon Gambrell of The Associated Press.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy says two missiles were fired in the direction of an American destroyer in the Persian Gulf from territory held by Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The Navy says the missile launch Sunday night landed in the water before getting near the USS Mason.

Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a Navy spokesman, said Monday it's unclear if the Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction.

The missile launches comes after an Emirati ship was targeted several days ago by missiles apparently fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen known as Houthis and their allies.

The missile fire comes after a ballistic missile launched 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.</s>The air strike ripped through a wake attended by some of the country's top political and security officials, outraging Yemeni society and potentially galvanizing powerful tribes to join the Houthis in opposing a Saudi-backed exiled government.

Riyadh is leading a coalition of Arab states which began launching air strikes in Yemen 18 months ago to restore to power ousted President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, who was driven from the capital two years ago by the Houthis.

The Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of Yemen, by far the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, to the brink of starvation. Both sides accuse the other of war crimes.

The Saudis say the Houthis are stooges of their enemy Iran. The Houthis say they have led a national revolt against a corrupt government, and the country is now being punished by its rich and aggressive Gulf Arab neighbors with U.S. political and military support.

Riyadh has denied responsibility for Saturday's air strike, one of the bloodiest incidents of the war.

A U.S. military spokesman said two missiles were fired from Houthi-held territory at the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer sailing north of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. Neither missile hit the ship.

The Houthis denied firing at the U.S. ship.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis at a military base in Taif in central Saudi Arabia, striking deeper then ever before in the latest in a series of more than a dozen missile attacks.

A missile was also fired at Marib in central Yemen, a base for pro-government militiamen and troops who have struggled to advance on the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis during the 18-month war, and have imposed a naval blockade that has restricted trade to a country that depends on imported food to feed itself.

This month the Houthis launched a missile at a ship from the United Arab Emirates and at government positions on a island at the strategic 20 km (12 mile)-wide Bab al-Mandab strait, which controls the mouth of the Red Sea, on the main shipping route from the Indian Ocean to Europe through the Suez Canal.

Among the dead in the funeral bombing on Saturday were notables straddling the country's many political divides, threatening to harden the will of powerful armed tribes around the capital who may make common cause with the Houthis.

"Despite all the massacres that have happened in this war, attacking a funeral is unprecedented and crosses a major red line in Yemeni culture," said Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst at the Sanaa Centre for Strategic studies.

"The air strikes killed powerful people, and their tribes and families will be drawn closer to the Houthis as they all try to retaliate."</s>The air strike ripped through a wake attended by some of the country's top political and security officials, outraging Yemeni society and potentially galvanizing powerful tribes to join the Houthis in opposing a Saudi-backed exiled government.

Riyadh is leading a coalition of Arab states which began launching air strikes in Yemen 18 months ago to restore to power ousted President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, who was driven from the capital two years ago by the Houthis.

The Houthis, fighters from a Shi'ite sect that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962, are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed at least 10,000 people and brought parts of Yemen, by far the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, to the brink of starvation. Both sides accuse the other of war crimes.

The Saudis say the Houthis are stooges of their enemy Iran. The Houthis say they have led a national revolt against a corrupt government, and the country is now being punished by its rich and aggressive Gulf Arab neighbors with U.S. political and military support.

Riyadh has denied responsibility for Saturday's air strike, one of the bloodiest incidents of the war.

A U.S. military spokesman said two missiles were fired from Houthi-held territory at the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer sailing north of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. Neither missile hit the ship.

The Houthis denied firing at the U.S. ship.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis at a military base in Taif in central Saudi Arabia, striking deeper then ever before in the latest in a series of more than a dozen missile attacks.

A missile was also fired at Marib in central Yemen, a base for pro-government militiamen and troops who have struggled to advance on the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis during the 18-month war, and have imposed a naval blockade that has restricted trade to a country that depends on imported food to feed itself.

This month the Houthis launched a missile at a ship from the United Arab Emirates and at government positions on a island at the strategic 20 km (12 mile)-wide Bab al-Mandab strait, which controls the mouth of the Red Sea, on the main shipping route from the Indian Ocean to Europe through the Suez Canal.

Among the dead in the funeral bombing on Saturday were notables straddling the country's many political divides, threatening to harden the will of powerful armed tribes around the capital who may make common cause with the Houthis.

"Despite all the massacres that have happened in this war, attacking a funeral is unprecedented and crosses a major red line in Yemeni culture," said Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst at the Sanaa Centre for Strategic studies.

"The air strikes killed powerful people, and their tribes and families will be drawn closer to the Houthis as they all try to retaliate."</s>A Saudi warship fires a shell during Gulf Shield 1exercise by members of Royal Saudi Navy, east of Saudi Arabia, on Sunday (Reuters photo)

RIYADH — Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of a US warship patrolling the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country, the US navy said on Monday.

The USS Mason “detected two inbound missiles” within an hour of each other from around 7:00pm on Sunday, said US Naval Forces Central Command spokeswoman Paula Dunn.

The destroyer had been “conducting routine operations in international waters” at the time, she said in a statement.

“Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship,” said Dunn, adding that “there were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship”.

“We assess these missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” she said, referring to the Iran-backed rebels fighting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

The Houthis described as “unfounded” reports they fired missiles at the US destroyer.

Rebel forces “did not target any warships”, said a spokesman quoted by the insurgents’ sabanews.net website.

US ally Saudi Arabia later on Monday “forcefully condemned the attack” which it said was carried out by Houthis and their allies.

Also on Monday, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the Houthis accused the rebels of firing a ballistic missile towards the southwestern Saudi city of Taif, hundreds of kilometres from the Yemeni border.

The missile was one of two which the Saudi-led coalition intercepted on Sunday, the coalition said, adding the other was launched toward Marib, east of Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa.

The incidents come after the United Arab Emirates said last Wednesday that Yemeni rebels struck a “civilian” vessel in the strategic Bab Al Mandab waterway, wounding crewmen.

That attack, which was carried out on October 1, was claimed by the Shiite rebels.

The UAE is a key member of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Yemeni rebels since March last year.

Coalition warships have imposed a naval blockade on rebel-held ports along Yemen’s Red Sea coast allowing in only UN-approved aid shipments.

In its statement on Monday, the US navy said the United States remains “committed to ensuring freedom of navigation everywhere in the world”.

“We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our service members,” its spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

The missile fire comes after the Iran-backed rebels blamed the coalition for an air raid that killed more than 140 people and wounded at least 525 on Saturday at a funeral in Sanaa.

Yemen’s rebel-allied former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday called for mobilisation along the border with Saudi Arabia to avenge that attack.

The Houthis swept into Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced across much of Yemen, forcing the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.

The conflict has killed more than 6,700 people — almost two-thirds of them civilians — and displaced at least three million since the coalition launched military operations, according to the United Nations.</s>Yemeni rebels fired a long-range missile at a military base deep inside Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, a day after the Saudi-led coalition bombed a funeral in Sanaa killing over 140 people.

Houthi rebels gave no reason why they fired the ballistic missile toward the King Fahd military base in the Saudi city of Taif, which is near Mecca.

However, the attack came less than 24 hours after the Saudi-led coalition was blamed for bombing a funeral in the Yemeni capital denounced by the United Nations as a “horrendous and heinous” attack.

Saudi state television broadcast a brief clip of what appeared to be the missile landing in Taif, with emergency vehicles attending the scene after an explosion was seen on camera.

Saudi authorities said the missile caused no damage, but it was the deepest strike inside the kingdom so far carried out by Houthi rebels, with the Soviet-era Scud rocket landing some 520km beyond the Yemeni border.

The reported target of the missile strike – the King Fahd military base – is home to American soldiers who are based there to advise their Saudi counterparts on the coalition’s war in Yemen.

On Sunday night two missiles were also fired at a United States navy vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to a spokesperson for the American navy.

The US navy said in a statement that no American sailors were injured and no damage caused to the USS Mason, which is a guided missile destroyer usually homed in Norfolk, Virginia.

Previous attacks by the Houthis have hit Saudi cities much closer to the border, including on Friday when a missile hit the south-west city of Khamis Mushait.

As well as firing on Saudi cities, the Houthis have begun targeting ships operating in the sea off the coast of Yemen, in the strategic waterway known as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which acts as a strategic connection between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, via the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The USS Mason “detected two inbound missiles” within an hour of each other from about 7pm on Sunday, said US navy spokeswoman Paula Dunn.

The destroyer had been “conducting routine operations in international waters” at the time, she said in a statement.

“Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship,” said Dunn, adding that “there were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship”.

“We assess these missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” she said.

However, a spokesperson for the Houthis told Reuters on condition of anonymity that they were not responsible for the attack on the navy vessel.

“(The Houth movement) denies targeting any ship off Yemeni waters,” an official said.

The incidents come after the United Arab Emirates said last Wednesday that the Houthis struck a “civilian” vessel in Bab al-Mandab, wounding crewmen.

That attack, which was carried out on 1 October, was claimed by the Houthis.

The UAE is a key member of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015. The coalition was formed to push back Houthi rebels who seized control of much of Yemen, forcing the Riyadh-backed government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi into exile.

Arab Gulf States believe the Houthis are backed by regional rival Iran, which on Sunday offered to treat the wounded from the funeral strike in Sanaa.

The Yemen war has proved devastating for a country that was already the Arab world’s poorest nation. The UN has reported that over 80 percent of the country’s 25 million people require some form of humanitarian assistance.

The UN has also warned that 1.5 million children are among millions of Yemeni who are food insecure, with 370,000 suffering severe malnutrition. The New York-based body has said that Yemen may be about to go into famine, as the Saudi-led coalition maintain a naval blockade on the country.

The UN and rights groups estimate that at least 9,000 people have been killed in the war, and more than three million others displaced.

Peace talks held in Kuwait have stalled and failed to produce a pathway to ending the war.

This article is available in French here.</s>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen amid that country's war.

The Saudi military said early Monday that it stopped one missile fired toward Marib in Yemen and a second targeting the kingdom's city of Taif.

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. The military said the missiles caused no damage.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been battling Shiite rebels in Yemen since March 2015. The rebels, known as Houthis, as well as their allies are known to have a stockpile of Soviet-era Scud missiles and locally designed variants.</s>The US military said that one of its guided-missile destroyers escaped an attempted attack off the coast of Yemen



Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said on Monday: “USS Mason detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period while in the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship”

He added that there had been no injuries to the sailors and no damage to the ship.

The missiles allegedly came from territory controlled by Houthi rebels who are being targeted in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

The Houthi movement has denied any involvement.

The news comes days after Yemeni forces successfully targeted and destroyed an Emirati military vessel near the Red Sea port city of Mokha.

The US-made HSV-2 Swift was a high-speed logistical ship capable of locating mines, controlling military operations and transporting troops and equipment. Over 20 sailors were reportedly killed on board the warship.

The Pentagon has been providing logistic and surveillance support to Saudi Arabia in its military aggression against Yemen, the kingdom’s impoverished southern neighbor, which has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis since its onset in March 2015.

The unprovoked war started by a coalition of Saudi-allies in an attempt to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstate former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of the Riyadh regime.

Washington has on several occasions criticized the Saudi regime for its crimes against humanity in Yemen, but has shown no sign of ending its support for Riyadh.

In August, the US State Department approved the sale of more than 130 Abrams tanks, 20 armored recovery vehicles and other equipment worth about $1.15 billion to Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis along with the Yemeni army have been able to repel the invasion and push the fight back into Saudi territories in some areas and destroy several Saudi vessels dwelling Yemen’s territorial waters.

On October 10, 2015, Yemeni army forces destroyed a Saudi warship in a missile attack in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

That came only three days after they had destroyed another Saudi vessel in the area.
The United States Navy's destroyer USS Mason comes under missile attack in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen. The two missiles, fired from Yemeni territory controlled by Iranian-backed Houthis, impacted the water well before reaching the ship, according to Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.