US destroyer targeted again by missile off Yemen: official

A US destroyer has for the second time in four days been targeted by a missile fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen, a US defence official said on Wednesday.

The USS Mason detected an incoming missile at about 6:00 pm local time (1500 GMT) and deployed unspecified countermeasures, the official said. 

"It is unclear if the countermeasures caused the missile to hit the water, or if it would have hit the water on its own," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

No one was injured and the ship was not struck.

On Sunday, two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of the Mason while she patrolled the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country.

Both missiles hit the water before reaching the ship and no one was injured in that incident, officials said.

Wednesday's attack saw a "coastal defense cruise missile" fired from a Houthi-controlled area south of al-Hudaydah, the unnamed defense official said. 

On Monday, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the Houthis accused the rebels of firing a ballistic missile towards the southwestern Saudi city of Taif, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the Yemeni border.

The missile was one of two that the Saudi-led coalition intercepted on Sunday, the coalition said, adding that the other was launched toward Marib, east of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa.

The incidents come after the United Arab Emirates said last Wednesday that Yemeni rebels struck a "civilian" vessel in the strategic Bab al-Mandab waterway, wounding crewmen.

That attack, which was carried out on 1 October, was claimed by the Shia rebels.

The UAE is a key member of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Yemeni rebels since March last year.

Coalition warships have imposed a naval blockade on rebel-held ports along Yemen's Red Sea coast allowing in only UN-approved aid shipments.