WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen’s Red Sea Coast early Thursday, officials said, a retaliatory action that followed two incidents this week in which missiles were fired at U.S. Navy ships.

The strikes marked the first shots fired by the U.S. in anger against the Houthis in Yemen’s long-running civil war. The U.S. previously only provided logistical support and refueling to the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, including supporters of Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

While the U.S. military has been focused on al-Qaida in Yemen, the Houthis had not been a primary target of American forces until the missile launches from Houthi-controlled territory this week.

No information on casualties from the U.S. missiles was provided by American officials. The three radar sites were in remote areas, where there was little risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage, said a military official who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The destroyer USS Nitze launched the cruise missiles, the official said.

President Barack Obama authorized the strikes at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. U.S. officials had said earlier that the U.S. was weighing what military response to take.

“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway,” Cook said following the U.S. action. “The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb and elsewhere around the world.”

Meanwhile, the state news agency Saba— under Houthis’ control— quoted an unnamed military official as saying that US accusations that a US destroyer had come under attack from areas under control of Houthis were false. He said, “all these claims are totally untrue and that the popular committees (Houthi militias) have nothing to do with such action.”

He added, “such claims are part of the general context of creating false justifications to escalate assaults and cover up the continuous crimes committed by the aggression against the Yemeni people, along with the blockade imposed on it, and after the increasing condemnations to such barbaric and hideous crimes against Yemenis.”

Loai al-Shami, a Houthi spokesman, had earlier declined to comment on the U.S. strike.

Early Wednesday, two missiles were fired at the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer that is conducting routine operations in the region with the USS Ponce, an amphibious warship. Neither missile got near the ship, said a U.S. military official.

The missiles were fired from the Yemen coast, near the location used Sunday when two missiles were launched at the same two ships, said the official, who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A second official said it wasn’t clear whether the ship’s countermeasures caused the missiles to hit the water on Wednesday or if they would have landed there anyway. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity.

“These unjustified attacks are serious, but they will not deter us from our mission,” the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson, said in a statement Wednesday. “The team in USS Mason demonstrated initiative and toughness as they defended themselves and others against these unfounded attacks over the weekend and again today. All Americans should be proud of them.”

Col. Walid Zeyad, a top naval official in Hodeida, told the AP that radars were in three different sites: Ras Eissa and Khoukha (both in Hodeida) and al-Makha port, of the western province of Taiz. He said that they were hit early morning around 7 a.m.

The area is a hub of weapons smuggling. The general impression in Yemen was that since the Saudi imposition of a blockade, and the air campaign, all radars were destroyed. When asked Zeyad if these radars are new, he declined to comment.

The missiles fired on Sunday were variants of the so-called Silkworm missile, and both also fell harmlessly into the water. The Silkworm is a type of coastal defense cruise missile that Iran has been known to use.

Sunday was the first time that U.S. ships were targeted by a missile launch from Yemen. Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

The U.S. has been considering withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis following Saturday’s airstrike on a funeral and other troubling incidents of civilian casualties as a result of the Saudi bombing campaign.

The strike on the funeral in the capital, Sanaa, killed some 140 people and wounded more than 600. That bombing, among the deadliest of the war, likely sparked the rebels to launch more ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia and target the U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

Human rights groups have expressed outrage over the deaths and accused the U.S. of complicity, leading the White House to say it was conducting a “review” to ensure U.S. cooperation with longtime partner Saudi Arabia is in line with “U.S. principles, values and interests.”

Meanwhile, an international human rights group, Human Rights Watch, said Thursday that the funeral bombing constitutes an apparent war crime and that the remnants of missiles found at the site of the attack showed that they were American-made. It said a disproportionate number of the victims were civilians when the coalition carried out two airstrikes.

An international investigation is needed into the “atrocity,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for the rights group. She said the attack on the funeral joins a long list of abuses by the coalition.

The U.S. missile launch also could affect relations with Iran, which says it backs the Yemeni rebels but denies arming them. That’s contradicted by the U.S. Navy, which says it has intercepted several shipping boats since the war began carrying Iranian weaponry suspected to be on the way to Yemen.

There was no immediate reaction to the U.S. launch Thursday morning in Iran, which was marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashoura. Houthi-linked media also did not report the strike.

The missile fire by the Houthi raises questions about maritime safety in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal. The U.S. moved more naval ships near the strait after an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

Analysts with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy called the Houthi missile fire “a surprisingly aggressive move,” but stressed there were limits to Iran’s control of the rebels.

“Houthi relations with the Islamic Republic resemble the Iran-Hamas relationship more than the Iran-Hezbollah relationship — that is, the Houthis are autonomous partners who usually act in accordance with their own interests, though often with smuggled Iranian arms and other indirect help,” the analysts wrote in a report released early Thursday.

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Sanaa, Yemen, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen’s Red Sea Coast early Thursday, officials said, a retaliatory action that followed two incidents this week in which missiles were fired at U.S. Navy ships.

The strikes marked the first shots fired by the U.S. in anger against the Houthis in Yemen’s long-running civil war. The U.S. previously only provided logistical support and refueling to the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, including supporters of Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

While the U.S. military has been focused on al-Qaida in Yemen, the Houthis had not been a primary target of American forces until the missile launches from Houthi-controlled territory this week.

No information on casualties from the U.S. missiles was provided by American officials. The three radar sites were in remote areas, where there was little risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage, said a military official who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The destroyer USS Nitze launched the cruise missiles, the official said.

President Barack Obama authorized the strikes at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. U.S. officials had said earlier that the U.S. was weighing what military response to take.

“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway,” Cook said following the U.S. action. “The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb and elsewhere around the world.”

Loai al-Shami, a Houthi spokesman, declined to comment immediately on the U.S. strike.

Early Wednesday, two missiles were fired at the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer that is conducting routine operations in the region with the USS Ponce, an amphibious warship. Neither missile got near the ship, said a U.S. military official.

The missiles were fired from the Yemen coast, near the location used Sunday when two missiles were launched at the same two ships, said the official, who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A second official said it wasn’t clear whether the ship’s countermeasures caused the missiles to hit the water on Wednesday or if they would have landed there anyway. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity.

“These unjustified attacks are serious, but they will not deter us from our mission,” the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson, said in a statement Wednesday. “The team in USS Mason demonstrated initiative and toughness as they defended themselves and others against these unfounded attacks over the weekend and again today. All Americans should be proud of them.”

The missiles fired on Sunday were variants of the so-called Silkworm missile, and both also fell harmlessly into the water. The Silkworm is a type of coastal defense cruise missile that Iran has been known to use.

Sunday was the first time that U.S. ships were targeted by a missile launch from Yemen. Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

The U.S. has been considering withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis following Saturday’s airstrike on a funeral and other troubling incidents of civilian casualties as a result of the Saudi bombing campaign.

The strike on the funeral in the capital, Sanaa, killed some 140 people and wounded more than 600. That bombing, among the deadliest of the war, likely sparked the rebels to launch more ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia and target the U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

Human rights groups have expressed outrage over the deaths and accused the U.S. of complicity, leading the White House to say it was conducting a “review” to ensure U.S. cooperation with longtime partner Saudi Arabia is in line with “U.S. principles, values and interests.”

Meanwhile, an international human rights group, Human Rights Watch, said Thursday that the funeral bombing constitutes an apparent war crime and that the remnants of missiles found at the site of the attack showed that they were American-made. It said a disproportionate number of the victims were civilians when the coalition carried out two airstrikes.

An international investigation is needed into the “atrocity,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for the rights group. She said the attack on the funeral joins a long list of abuses by the coalition.

The U.S. missile launch also could affect relations with Iran, which says it backs the Yemeni rebels but denies arming them. That’s contradicted by the U.S. Navy, which says it has intercepted several shipping boats since the war began carrying Iranian weaponry suspected to be on the way to Yemen.

There was no immediate reaction to the U.S. launch Thursday morning in Iran, which was marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashoura. Houthi-linked media also did not report the strike.

The missile fire by the Houthi raises questions about maritime safety in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal. The U.S. moved more naval ships near the strait after an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

Analysts with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy called the Houthi missile fire “a surprisingly aggressive move,” but stressed there were limits to Iran’s control of the rebels.

“Houthi relations with the Islamic Republic resemble the Iran-Hamas relationship more than the Iran-Hezbollah relationship — that is, the Houthis are autonomous partners who usually act in accordance with their own interests, though often with smuggled Iranian arms and other indirect help,” the analysts wrote in a report released early Thursday.

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Sanaa, Yemen, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. </s> The US military launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday that targeted coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces.

According to initial Pentagon reports, the three sites were destroyed.

The action comes after failed missile attacks this week on a US Navy destroyer, US officials said.

The strikes are Washington’s first direct military action against Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict.

However, the Pentagon appeared to stress the defensive nature of the strikes, which were aimed at radar that enabled the launch of at least three missiles against the US Navy destroyer USS Mason since Sunday.

US officials said the USS Nitze launched the Tomahawk cruise missiles around 4am local time.

“These radars were active during previous attacks and attempted attacks on ships in the Red Sea,” including the USS Mason, one of the officials said.

The official said the areas targeted were near Ras Isa, north of Mukha, and near Khoka.

The missile attacks on the USS Mason - the latest of which took place earlier on Wednesday - appeared to be the Houthis’ response to a suspected Saudi-led strike on mourners gathered in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa.

The missile incidents, along with an October 1st strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, retaliating after failed missile attacks this week on a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials said.

The strikes, authorized by President Barack Obama, represent Washington’s first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict.

Still, the Pentagon appeared to stress the limited nature of the strikes, aimed at radar that enabled the launch of at least three missiles against the U.S. Navy ship USS Mason on Sunday and Wednesday.

“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. Navy destroyer USS Nitze launched the Tomahawk cruise missiles around 4 a.m. (0100 GMT).

“These radars were active during previous attacks and attempted attacks on ships in the Red Sea,” including the USS Mason, one of the officials said, adding the targeted radar sites were in remote areas where the risk of civilian casualties was low.

The official identified the areas in Yemen where the radar were located as near Ras Isa, north of Mukha and near Khoka.

Shipping sources told Reuters sites were hit in the Dhubab district of Taiz province, a remote area overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Straight known for fishing and smuggling.

SAFE PASSAGE

The failed missile attacks on the USS Mason appeared to be part of the reaction to a suspected Saudi-led strike on mourners gathered in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, denied any involvement in Sunday's attempt to strike the USS Mason.

&auto_play=false

On Thursday, the Houthis reiterated a denial that they carried out the strikes and said they did not come from areas under their control, a news agency controlled by the group reported a military source as saying.

The allegations were false pretexts to “escalate aggression and cover up crimes committed against the Yemeni people”, the source said.

A still image from video released October 13, 2016 shows U.S. military launching cruise missile strikes from U.S. Navy destroyer USS Nitze to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi forces. REUTERS/DIVIDS via Reuters TV

U.S. officials have told Reuters there were growing indications that Houthi fighters, or forces aligned with them, were responsible for Sunday’s attempted strikes, in which two coastal cruise missiles designed to target ships failed to reach the destroyer.

The missile incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi’s predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have the support of many army units and control most of the north, including the capital Sanaa.

The Pentagon warned against any future attacks.

“The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate,” Cook said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a leading member of a Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting to end Houthi control, denounced the attacks on the Mason as an attempt to target the freedom of navigation and to inflame the regional situation.

Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen’s conflict at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, suggested the Houthis, fighters from a Shi’ite sect, could be becoming more militarily aligned with groups such as Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah.

Slideshow (5 Images)

“Targeting U.S. warships is a sign that the Houthis have decided to join the axis of resistance that currently includes Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran,” Knight said.

Although Thursday’s strikes against the radar aim to undercut the ability to track and target U.S. ships, the Houthis are still believed to possess missiles that could pose a threat.

Reuters has reported that the coastal defense cruise missiles used against the USS Mason had considerable range, fuelling concern about the kind of weaponry the Houthis appear willing to employ and some of which, U.S. officials believe, is supplied by Iran.

One of the missiles fired on Sunday traveled more than two dozen nautical miles before splashing into the Red Sea off Yemen’s southern coast, one U.S. official said. </s> Breaking News Navy strikes radar sites off Yemen in response to missile attacks on ships

The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason nests alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout in this Sept. 4, 2016 photo.

The United States attacked three radar sites in Yemen early Thursday in response to missile attacks launched by pro-Iranian rebels on Navy ships off Yemen’s coast.

Initial assessments show the Houthi rebel-controlled sites were destroyed, according to a statement from Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook.

The USS Nitze launched Tomahawk missiles at targets north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which lies between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, according to the Washington Post and Pentagon reports.

“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway,” Cook said.

The strikes were authorized by President Barack Obama on the recommendations of Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The radar site strikes followed attacks launched Sunday at the destroyer USS Mason and the amphibious staging base USS Ponce while the ships transited international waters, according to earlier Pentagon statements.

On Oct. 1, a missile heavily damaged the HSV-2 Swift, a former Navy high-speed vessel operated by the United Arab Emirates, according to reports and photos released by the Emirati government.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the Emirati ship but denied responsibility for attacking the U.S. Navy, according to the Washington Post. However, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said Tuesday that “the facts certainly point” to Houthi involvement in the attacks on USS Mason and USS Ponce.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea form part of a critical commercial passageway for oilers and other commercial traffic transiting through the Suez Canal.

“The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate, and will continue to maintain our freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb, and elsewhere around the world,” Cook said. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. Navy on Sunday began investigating a possible overnight missile attack from Yemen on a group of American warships in the Red Sea amid uncertainty about what transpired.

The Red Sea and the nearby strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, a crucial chokepoint for international shipping and crude oil, has been the scene of what the U.S. describes as at least two missile attacks from rebel-held territory in Yemen. American forces have fired back once with Tomahawk missiles, destroying mobile radar positions in the first shots fired by the U.S. in anger in the stalemated conflict.

In the latest incident, a group of American warships in the Red Sea on Saturday night "had indications of a possible inbound missile threat and deployed appropriate defensive measures," said Capt. Paula Dunn, a spokeswoman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command. She said in a statement that all ships and sailors were safe, without elaborating.

An American defense official told The Associated Press on Sunday that one of the ships saw on radar what sailors believed to be missiles being fired on it out of Yemen at night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident not yet made public.

Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies did not immediately comment on the incident Saturday. Previously, the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency ran dispatches denying rebels ever fired on American warships.

Adm. John Richardson, the Navy's top officer, said earlier Saturday the destroyer USS Mason appeared "to have come under attack." The Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Virginia, has been targeted twice before by missile fire out of Yemen, according to the U.S. Navy.

Also known to be in the Red Sea near the Mason are the USS Nitze and the USS Ponce.

Previously, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area as the Mason and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

Yemen has been at war since September 2014, when the Houthis swept into the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab nations launched a campaign against the Houthis in March 2015.

Yemen's war is largely overshadowed by the conflict against the Islamic State group elsewhere in the Middle East, though rights groups have mounted increased criticism of the Saudi-led airstrikes in recent months for killing civilians. The U.N. and rights groups estimate the conflict has killed at least 9,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million more.

The U.S. had been providing logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, but had begun to withdraw its support in recent weeks over the civilian casualties from its air campaign. </s> Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi warship in the Red Sea Monday, killing two sailors and wounding three others, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.

The Saudi frigate, Al Madinah, was conducting routine operations in the southern Red Sea when the attack occurred.

THREE SERVICE MEMBERS HURT IN OSPREY CRASH AFTER DEADLY YEMEN TERROR RAID

It is unknown if the ship was hit by a missile or by suicide attack after being rammed by a small boat, officials told Fox News.

The U.S. military was monitoring the situation. The Saudi frigate was able to continue her transit despite the damage, according to the official.

ISLAMIC BODY CALLS TRAVEL BAN A 'GRAVE CONCERN'

The attack came one day after President Trump spoke to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.

Iran launched a ballistic missile Sunday in defiance of a U.N. resolution that ordered the Islamic Republic to stop such tests, U.S. officials revealed to Fox News.

In October, U.S. Navy warships came under missile attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the same area of the southern Red Sea just north of the Bab al Mandab Strait.

For the first time in history, a U.S. destroyer successfully shot down incoming enemy missiles using SM-2 missiles in the October attack.

Days later Tomahawk cruise missile launched from the USS Nitze destroyed the Houthi radar installations responsible for firing on the U.S. warships. </s> Missiles may have been fired at US warships in Red Sea — official

Three US warships in the Red Sea detected what may have been missiles fired at them on Saturday but none hit, the US military said, amid rising tensions with Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

US officials initially said that surface-to-surface missiles had been fired at the USS Mason, USS Nitze and USS Ponce off the coast of Yemen starting around 1930 GMT, though it was unclear how many.

They later backtracked, saying that the ships detected what may have been missiles.

“A US Strike Group transiting international waters in the Red Sea detected possible inbound missile threats and deployed appropriate defensive measures,” a US defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“Post event assessment is ongoing. All US warships and vessels in the area are safe.”

The USS Mason destroyer, which was sailing in international waters off Yemen’s coast earlier this week, used unspecified countermeasures against the incoming missiles, a military official said.

If confirmed, the attempted missile strikes would be the most serious escalation yet of the US involvement in a deadly civil war that has killed more than 6,800 people, wounded more than 35,000 and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led coalition launched military operations last year.

Officials have stressed that Washington wants to avoid getting embroiled in yet another war in an already volatile region.

On Thursday, the US Navy launched five Tomahawk cruise missiles at three mobile radar sites in Huthi-controlled territory on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, after the Iran-backed rebels blasted rockets at the USS Mason twice in four days.

The military insists these moves are taken out of self-defense. The Huthis have denied conducting the attacks.

Though the United States is providing logistical support to a Saudi-led coalition battling the rebels, Thursday’s launches marked the first time Washington has taken direct action against the Huthis.

But the US strikes earlier this week did not take out Huthi missiles and, though the radar destruction makes it harder to aim the weapons, officials have warned rebels could still use spotter boats or online ship-tracking websites to find new targets. </s> Two missiles were fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen at a U.S. Navy ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday, marking the second time in four days that such an attack has occurred, defense officials said.

The U.S. responded early today by launching Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi territory on Yemen's coast, American officials said.

A Pentagon spokesman said President Barack Obama authorized the strikes at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

Spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement that the U.S. actions were limited self-defense strikes conducted to protect personnel, ships and freedom of navigation.

The strikes came hours after missiles were fired at the USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer that also came under fire Sunday night. The weapons were launched from an area of Yemen held by the Houthis, a rebel group that pushed the central government out of power in the capital city of Sanaa in 2014 and that has resisted U.S.-backed efforts by Saudi Arabia to restore Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

An official said the USS Mason used countermeasures, but neither missile got near the ship and there were no injuries.

A second official said it wasn't clear whether the ship's countermeasures caused the missiles to hit the water on Wednesday or whether they would have landed there anyway.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly, so they spoke on condition of anonymity.

The missiles fired Sunday were variants of the so-called Silkworm missile, and both fell harmlessly into the water. The Silkworm is a type of coastal-defense cruise missile that Iran has been known to use. Iran has backed the Shiite Houthi rebels.

On Sunday, two other missiles were launched from Yemen at the Mason and the USS Ponce, an amphibious ship used as a forward staging base. In that case, the first missile was launched while the ships were at least 12 miles away from Yemen's shore in international waters near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a waterway between Yemen and Djibouti that is heavily trafficked by oilers.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Tuesday that the first missile was launched Sunday about 7 p.m. from a coastal area.

"We want very much to get to the bottom of what happened," Davis said. "Anybody who fires on U.S. Navy ships does so at peril to themselves."

A report from USNI News published Monday said the Mason fired at least three missiles in its defense: two Standard Missile-2s and an Enhanced Sea Sparrow Missile to intercept the one fired from Yemen. The outcome of those launches was not clear. The Mason also fired a Nulka anti-ship missile decoy, the report said. The decoys are designed to fool incoming missiles into believing there is another, larger ship to hit than the one targeted.

The missile launches from both sides come as the U.S. considers withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, after Saturday's airstrike on the funeral and other troubling instances of civilian casualties as a result of the Saudi bombing campaign.

Saturday's strikes killed more than 140 people and wounded hundreds more. Saudi officials have denied they carried out the attack, but two U.S. defense officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said there is little reason to believe that.

President Barack Obama's administration said after the strikes on the funeral that they had "initiated an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support" to the Saudis and are "prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S. principles, values and interests, including achieving an immediate and durable end to Yemen's tragic conflict."

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, Army Maj. Josh Jacques, said late Tuesday that at that point, the military had not been directed to change any support in regard to Saudi Arabia. Refueling operations are carried out at the request of the Saudis, most recently on Sunday, outside Yemeni airspace, he said.

More than 4,000 civilians have been killed since the Saudis began launching airstrikes against the rebels in March 2015.

Information for this article was contributed by Dan Lamothe of The Washington Post and by Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press.
The U.S. military launches Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Nitze against Houthi-controlled radar sites in Yemen following two incidents in which, according to U.S. military, missiles were fired on United States Navy vessels in the Red Sea.