US destroyer shoots down 3 missiles, drones fired over Red Sea by Iran-backed faction in Yemen

The United States Navy shot down three cruise missiles and a set of drones stemming from a faction in Yemen who launched them over the Red Sea. These weapons could have "potentially" been heading towards Israeli targets.

The USS Carney took down the missiles and drones after they were launched from the Arabian Peninsula, the Pentagon stated in a press conference briefing.

“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 forces in Yemen,” Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said.

“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 toward targets in Israel," he added.

According to the Epoch Times, Ryder declined to acknowledge who authorized the missiles or whether the government knew if the missiles were targeting Israeli or American forces.

Ryder boasted about U.S. defenses and said it was a typical move for forces in the region.

"This action was a demonstration of the integrated air and missile-defense architecture that we have built in the Middle East and that we are prepared to utilize whenever necessary to protect our partners and our interests in this important region."

"Our defensive response is one that we would have taken for any similar threat in the region," Ryder added. “The decision was made that it posed a potential threat based on its flight profile, and so the decision was made to take it down.”

The missiles were reportedly fired by the Houthis, a Yemeni group that has been historically backed by Hezbollah and Iran, according to Brookings.

After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Houthis allegedly adopted the slogan “God is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam."

The USS Carney, an American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, uses the Aegis missile defense system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, YouTube channel US Military Patriot described. The system is used in combination with standard missile interceptors to track and destroy ballistic missiles.

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