US forces shoot down ballistic missiles in Red Sea

US Navy Vice Adm Brad Cooper, who heads the Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet (Jon Gambrell/AP)

The US military said on Sunday that it shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired towards a container ship by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Hours later, four boats tried to attack the same ship, but US forces opened fire, killing several of the armed crews, the US Central Command (Centcom) said. No-one was injured on the ship.