The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said US military forces have attacked targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen over the past 24 hours, destroying two drones, a Houthi ground control station and three anti-ship cruise missiles.
Earlier, the Iran-allied Houthi movement said it had attacked a container ship in the Red Sea and two US destroyers in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
In a statement on the US strikes, Centcom said: “These weapons pose a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region.”
It said the Houthis’ “reckless and dangerous behavior” threatened regional stability but gave no details or confirmed any U.S. ships had been attacked.
CENTCOM is the US military command covering the Middle East.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sari had earlier said that the Houthi air force on Wednesday carried out drone attacks on the US destroyer Cole and fired several ballistic missiles at the US destroyer Laboon.
The Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Ono was also targeted He said that with ballistic missiles and drones.
Athens-based Contships Management told Reuters the ship was undamaged and its crew were safe.
A US official said there was no data or information available to confirm the Houthis’ claim that the two warships were attacked.
Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile attacks on ships in the vital shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
Shippers have been forced to send goods on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
However, the frequency of attacks has decreased following an Israeli attack on military targets near Yemen’s Hodeidah port on July 20, which killed six people and injured more than 80, following an Israeli drone attack a day earlier. The Houthis attacked Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub.