The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Laboon — The missile launched by Houthi rebels had been heading for the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Laboon (Picture: US Navy)

USA

Fighter jet shoots down missile heading for US Navy warship in southern Red Sea

A US fighter jet shot down an anti-ship missile that had been fired at a US Navy warship in the southern Red Sea.

Houthi militants had fired an anti-ship cruise missile from a rebel-controlled area in Yemen towards the USS Laboon.

But the missile was shot down by a US fighter jet near the coastal port city of Hudaydah, with no injuries or damage reported to the US ship or aircraft.

On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by… pic.twitter.com/jftZHQhA2e
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024

The incident took place as both the UK's Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary warned there could be further strikes against the Houthis if they did not stop their Red Sea attacks.

Watch: RAF Typhoons strike Houthi militia targets.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said last week's joint RAF-US air strikes sent an "unambiguous message" to the Houthis that the UK was determined to put a stop to the attacks.

"We will work with allies. We will always defend the freedom of navigation," he said. "And crucially we will be prepared to back words with actions."

On Saturday the US launched another air strike on the Houthis using Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The UK and the US have both vowed to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea that had been attacked or harassed by rebel forces.