US ship fired upon again near Yemen: report

Multiple missiles were fired at the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mason on Saturday while it was in international waters off the coast of Yemen, U.S. officials said, according to reports.

The destroyer was unharmed, with one missile falling into the sea and another brought down by a defensive missile deployed by the ship, officials said.

{mosads}{mosads}”The Mason once again appears to have come under attack in the Red Sea, again from coastal defense cruise missiles fired from the coast of Yemen,” Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, told reporters Saturday, according to The Associated Press.

But officials later in the day expressed uncertainty about what had happened Saturday, wondering whether there were multiple incoming missiles or if the radar system on the destroyer had malfunctioned, according to CNN.

“We are aware of the reports and we are assessing the situation. All of our ships and crews are safe and unharmed,” a U.S. defense official said.

The USS Mason was previously targeted twice this week, and the countermeasures Saturday come days after the U.S. fired retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebel sites in Yemen.

The USS Nitze, a Navy destroyer, fired cruise missiles from the Red Sea this week at three radar sites in the Houthi-controlled territory that officials said were used to launch two failed missile attacks.

— Updated:11:05 p.m.