US navy may have been fired at for a third time from Houthi-controlled territory

It came as the United States and Britain called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen to end violence between the Iran-backed rebels and the internationally-recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, reports Taimur Khan.

The USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, appears to have been the target of two previous Houthi attacks against the US ships, as well as the latest suspected attack. AP Photo

ABU DHABI // The US navy has said that one of its warships near the Bab Al Mandeb strait may have come under another missile attack from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen – what would be the third unsuccessful strike against the ships in seven days.

The ships “had indications of a possible inbound missile threat and deployed appropriate defensive measures” late on Saturday, said Capt Paula Dunn, a spokeswoman for US navy forces central command, adding that all of the vessels and their crews were unharmed.

It came as the United States and Britain called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen to end violence between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally-recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

“This is the time to implement a ceasefire unconditionally and then move to the negotiating table,” said US secretary of state John Kerry after meeting British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and other officials in London.

He added that they were calling for the implementation of the ceasefire “as rapidly as possible, meaning Monday, Tuesday”.

US officials said on Friday that two previous attacks on its warships had been carried out by the Houthis. It came a day after the US navy launched retaliatory Tomahawk cruise missile strikes against three radar sites in rebel-controlled territory along the Yemeni coast. The officials said these sites were involved in the attacks.

The USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, is one of at least three American warships deployed near the strategic Bab Al Mandeb strait to protect shipping lanes after the Houthis struck a UAE-leased transport ship on October 1. It appears to have been the target of the two previous Houthi attacks against the US ships, as well as the latest suspected attack.

Before the suspected attack on Saturday night US officials had hoped that their first direct military intervention against the Shiite rebels would be a one-off strike – intended only to deter further attacks rather than cripple the Houthis’ capabilities.

“They have other capabilities we didn’t disable. We destroyed these sites but we did not disable their entire capability, and nor was it the intention to do that,” a senior official in the Obama administration said on Friday, adding: “We were very clear that this was not meant to indicate support for [Saudi-led] coalition operations either in Yemen writ large or on the Red Sea ... we were not intending to be brought into the war in any fashion.”

The Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, is fighting the Houthis and their allies in Yemen to restore Mr Hadi’s government.

The US – which has sought to help broker peace negotiations between the two sides – may not have intended its Thursday strikes to aid the coalition but it has been a crucial participant in the alliance’s air campaign against the Houthis, providing logistics, refuelling and intelligence support as well as munitions sales.

In recent months, however, Washington has become increasingly critical of Saudi Arabia’s conduct in the war. The senior official called the Saudi bombing of a funeral in Sanaa that killed more than 140 people “particularly egregious”, and US assistance – which has already been reduced – is under White House review.

Riyadh accepted responsibility for the attack on Saturday, saying it had received erroneous targeting information from Yemeni forces and that it would work to compensate victims’ families.

While Washington says it does not want to be drawn directly into the conflict – apart from its ongoing counter-terrorism operations, which are carried out in coordination with UAE forces – the risks of escalation appear to be increasing with the latest potential Houthi attack on the US ships.

The Houthis have denied firing at the American vessels, and the US officials said they did not know why the rebels launched the anti-ship missiles. “There could be different elements within the Houthis who are pursuing different, slightly different objectives,” a second administration official said on Friday.

Iran has also deployed two warships to the Gulf of Aden, its state media reported last week. Tehran has supplied arms to the Houthis but it has not been confirmed whether the missile systems the rebels are using to target ships in the Red Sea were provided by Iran or came from pre-existing Yemeni stocks that fell under rebel control.

Also on Saturday, the US announced that Oman had secured the release of two US citizens who had been held captive by the Houthis. The names of the Americans were not released. Oman, the only GCC country not participating in the Saudi-led coalition, has been key to helping free hostages held by the rebels, including an American journalist released earlier this year and five other Americans released late last year. A statement carried by Omani state media and remarks by Mr Kerry indicated that there are other Americans still being held by the Houthis.

“We’re very pleased with [the release of the two Americans] obviously and we continue to work on other hostage situations there and elsewhere,” Mr Kerry said on Sunday.

* With additional reporting by Reuters