US warship was under attack for nine hours near coast of Yemen
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The United States vessel that was intercepting aerial targets over the Red Sea was engaging them for nearly nine hours.
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This image provided by the U.S. Navy shows the USS Carney in the Mediterranean Sea on Oct. 23, 2018 (US Naval Forces Europe-Africa via AP)
A US warship positioned near the coasts of Yemen intercepted a heavy barrage of missiles and drones over the span of nine hours, a US official said, as quoted by CNN.
According to CNN, the US warship, USS Carney, an Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer intercepted four cruise missiles and 15 drones over nine hours as they were heading north along the Red Sea.
The Pentagon suggests that the missiles's trajectory indicates that they were most likely headed to occupied Palestine to strike Israeli positions.
The attack comes in light of paramount solidarity with the Palestinian people from Yemen, with the support seeing Sanaa seeking to retaliate against the Israeli occupation for its crimes from across the Red Sea.
The missiles were launched "potentially towards targets in Israel," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said. He revealed that there were three land-attack cruise missiles and several drones.
Ryder also highlighted that some of the projectiles were traveling at very high altitudes when they were intercepted with SM-2 surface-to-air missiles launched from the USS Carney.
Yemen launching projectiles that the US alleges were heading toward 'Israel' comprises a highly rare occurrence, wherein the United States has not engaged Yemeni aerial targets in years, but it also reflects the recently highly vocal Arab solidarity with Palestine.
"The crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney operating in the northern Red Sea earlier today shot down three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi [Ansar Allah] forces in Yemen," Ryder said during a press briefing.
"Information about these engagements is still being processed and we cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel."
Furthermore, Ryder added that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Emir Sheikh Tamim of Qatar, as well as his counterparts from Saudi Arabia and "Israel", earlier in the day.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Ryder, a US military contractor passed away from a heart attack yesterday at the Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq while trying to find cover during a drone attack.
