Iran-backed Houthis launch 2 anti-ship ballistic missiles at US Ship

Iranian-backed Houthis on Thursday (US local time) launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at US Ship Chem Ranger, US Central Command said.

No injury or damage was, however, reported.

"On Jan. 18 at approximately 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, U.S.-Owned, Greek-operated tanker ship. The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship. The ship has continued underway," US Central Command wrote on X.

The US on Thursday said it launched strikes on 14 Houthi missiles "that were loaded to be fired in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen".

US called the attack its ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on US and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea on January 17 at approximately 11:59 pm (Sanaa time).

"These missiles on launch rails ... could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves," CENTCOM said on X.

The strikes are meant to degrade the Houthis' "capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden", it added.

"The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander.

"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people," he added.

"We will not give up targeting Israeli ships or ships heading towards ports in occupied Palestine ... in support of the Palestinian people," the group's spokesperson, Mohammed Abdelsalam, Al Jazeera reported.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said the US and the United Kingdom launched the strikes in the provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, al-Bayda and Saada overnight. However, CENTCOM did not mention any involvement of the UK in the latest attacks, Al Jazeera reported.

"It is an open war, and they must endure the earth-shattering, powerful, and crushing strikes and responses, God willing," Houthi official Ali al-Qahoum wrote on X after the latest strikes.

The US redesignated the Yemeni group as a "terrorist" organisation in response to its continuing attacks and threats to shipping and imposed sanctions on it. The designation does not go into effect for 30 days.

The Houthis said the designation will not affect its operations to prevent Israeli ships or vessels heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.