The Houthi militias, which are backed by Iran, have — for the third time in less than a week — attacked US Navy in the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Saturday night’s attack came after the first one on Monday, Oct. 10. At that time, the US Navy said it was unsure if it was being targeted or if the attack was a mistake.
The second attack — on Wednesday, Oct. 12 — prompted the US military to respond with verbal warnings and limited strikes on Thursday. Three radar sites in Houthi-held Yemeni territories near Ras Isa, north of Mukha and near Khoka, were taken out.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said at the time that “the limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation.”
However, the Houthi militias — a radical religious group whose primary slogan is “Death to America” — remained undeterred and waged a third attack on Saturday night, firing a number of missiles at the USS Mason and other US ships in the Red Sea.
“The Mason once again appears to have come under fire from cruise missiles fired from Yemen,” Adm. John Richardson, chief of US naval operations, told reporters on Sunday.
The Mason was in international waters when multiple incoming surface-to-surface missiles were detected by the ship’s crew about 3:30 p.m. EDT. No damage was reported to the vessel or other ships accompanying it.
A US official was quoted as saying by news agencies that an additional radars could have been used in the latest attack.
Saturday night’s attack has eliminated all doubts that the attacks were a mistake or that the Houthis wanted to avoid a confrontation with the US.
In fact, the only one who seems to be avoiding a full-fledged confrontation is the US, thereby emboldening the Houthi militias — as rightly explained by Ali Khedery, formerly the longest serving US official in Iraq who is now based in Dubai.
Khedery blamed the recurrent attacks on America’s lack of robust responses to such grave provocations.

Source: Arab News