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Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said on Friday they launched a missile attack on a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea after they threatened to escalate attacks on Red Sea shipping in response to overnight strikes by the United States and Britain that killed 16 people.

Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, said the US and UK hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities inside Yemen.

They called it a response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed terrorist group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war.

The US F/A-18 fighter jets involved in the strikes launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other US warships in the region also participated.

The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said 13 Houthi sites were targeted in a bid to degrade their ability to attack shipping.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree later said that the Eisenhower had been targeted with several drones and ballistic missiles.

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A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said that the aircraft carrier was fine.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official, threatened both the US and UK with further retaliation.