US warships come under attack in Red Sea as nearly two dozen incoming missiles and drones shot down

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Three U.S. warships came under attack Friday off the coast of Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have disrupted commercial shipping in the region, but no one was hurt, officials said. 

The warships shot down nearly two dozen incoming missiles and drones while transiting a narrow entrance into the Red Sea. None of the vessels was hit, and no sailors on board were hurt, a U.S. official told Fox News. 

The USS Stockdale and USS Spruance, along with a littoral combat ship, the USS Indianapolis, were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait when the naval warships came under attack from a barrage of incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, the officials said.

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Houthi militants march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo, File)

"We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and waves," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday. "My understanding is that those were either engaged in, shot down or failed."

The Stockdale and Spruance are part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group that recently arrived in the Middle East from the Pacific.

U.S. forces have struck back at Houthi militants on multiple occasions for nearly a year. The rebel group has routinely attacked commercial and military vessels at sea over Israel's war against Hamas. 

The number of commercial ships passing through the Red Sea has dropped by 90% since the attacks began after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. Since then, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have come under attack dozens of times. In January, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan.

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The oil tanker Sounion burns in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, Sept. 14.  (European Union's Operation Aspides via AP)

The Houthis recently attacked a Greek-flagged oil tanker, which carried four times the amount of oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989. No major oil spill occurred, and officials said the fires on board the vessel were contained. 

The ship was towed into port after being adrift in the Red Sea for days with flames visible on deck.

Following Friday's attack, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the Houthi's actions are "nothing less than an act of war."

"The Biden-Harris administration's monthslong effort to ‘play defense’ in the Red Sea has completely failed," he wrote on X. "It is time to act decisively to punish the Houthis and let the world see the consequences of attacking the United States."

During her debate with former President Trump, Vice President Harris claimed, "As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century."

At the time of Harris's comments, elite American commandos had just conducted a raid into western Iraq, days prior, to kill ISIS leaders. A number of soldiers were wounded, including one who took shrapnel to his leg, which required surgery.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Laboon sails in the Red Sea. Three U.S. warships came under attack in the Red Sea on Friday from Houthi drones and missiles.  (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft strike group returned to Norfolk, Virginia, in July after dropping 420 bombs on Houthi targets in Yemen. Warships in the strike group fired 155 interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming Houthi missiles and drones. 

"This outcome is now expected—U.S. warships shooting down incoming missiles—but recall critics for years said missile defense will never work calling it a fool’s errand," said retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Syring, former head of the Missile Defense Agency. "It would be a much different conversation tonight had we not maintained our commitment to this mission."

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At least 135 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired into Yemen from American warships, and fighter jets aboard the ship launched 60 air-to-air missiles to shoot down incoming Houthi drones.