Although Karni was directly targeted, a statement issued by the US military's Central Command said the Houthis fired “in the direction” of Karni.
Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said recognizing the attack as a direct attack on a US warship is important.
“They are now calling a spade a spade, saying that, yes, they are trying to attack our forces, they are trying to kill us,” he said.
Bowman said that softening the language and response, while intended to prevent a broader war, had the opposite effect of emboldening the Houthis.
Central Command said that an anti-ship ballistic missile approached the American destroyer USS Carney in the attack, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has participated in American operations trying to stop the Houthi campaign since November.
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She added: “The missile was successfully shot down by the warship USS Carney.” “No injuries or damage were reported.”
The attacks are the latest attacks by the rebels in their campaign against ships traveling through the Red Sea and surrounding waters, disrupting global trade amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The United States and Britain have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes since the Houthi attacks and have begun targeting Houthi missile depots and launch sites in Yemen, a country that has been torn by conflict since the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they are retaliating for the Israeli offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have often targeted ships with weak or unclear links to Israel, endangering shipping on a key global trade route between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Since the air campaign began, the rebels now say they will target American and British ships as well. On Wednesday, two US-flagged ships carrying cargo for the US Departments of Defense and State were attacked by the Houthis, forcing an escorting US Navy warship to drop some projectiles.
The US Navy commander in the Middle East said this week that the Houthi attacks were the worst since the so-called tanker war in the 1980s. Culminating in a day-long naval battle between Washington and Tehran, the US Navy also saw the US Navy mistakenly shoot down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people, in 1988.
AP
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