National Security

REPORT: US Warship, Multiple Commercial Ships Under Attack In Red Sea

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

John Oyewale Contributor
Font Size:

An American warship and several commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said, without identifying the source of the attack, per the AP news report.

The attack began at about 10 a.m. in Sanaa, Yemen, and had lasted as long as five hours, with the Carney intercepting at least one drone during the attack, some unnamed U.S. officials reportedly told the AP.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Iran-linked, Yemen-based Houthi rebels said the Houthis took responsibility for attacking two Israeli ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden with a drone and a missile, The Times of Israel reported. The Houthis reportedly did not mention the attack on the Carney but reportedly added that the attacks would continue for as long as the Israel-Hamas war lasts.

The British military simply said there were drone attacks and explosions in the Red Sea, per the AP.

A rocket hit a Bahamian-flagged British vessel sailing off Yemen’s western coast, per the Times of Israel. (RELATED: US Warship Shoots Down Iranian-Made Drone Launched From Yemen)

Before the reported attack on the Carney, there reportedly were at least 38 similar attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel.

The reported attack occurred a day after the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rallied Saturday for American leadership on the world stage in his keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

“The world built by American leadership can only be maintained by American leadership,” Austin said. “From Russia to China, from Hamas to Iran, our rivals and foes want to divide and weaken the United States — and to split us off from our allies and partners. So at this hinge in history, America must not waver. … [T]he cost of abdication has always far outweighed the cost of leadership.”