The US has launched a new strike against a Houthi target in Yemen, according to two defence officials.
The sources confirmed the unilateral strike was conducted from a US Navy ship and targeted a Houthi radar site.
It comes just 24 hours after American and British planes, ships and submarines launched dozens of airstrikes across the country overnight in retaliation against Iran-backed Houthi forces for months of attacks on Red Sea shipping.
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Earlier there were reports “suspicious” small boats had approached merchant ships near Yemen.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of two small boats following a vessel for more than an hour.
No weapons were seen, but the “suspicious approach” happened in an area 80 nautical miles southeast of Aden in Yemen, according to the agency.
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Meanwhile, two US Navy sailors have been reported missing at sea while conducting operations off the coast of Somalia.
A statement from US Central Command said: “Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing to locate the two sailors.
“For operational security purposes, we will not release additional information until the personnel recovery operation is complete.
“The sailors were forward-deployed to the US 5th Fleet (C5F) area of operations supporting a wide variety of missions.”
The pair went missing on 11 January.
On Friday, the US Navy warned American-flagged vessels to steer clear of areas around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for the next 72 hours.
The warning in a notice to shippers came as Yemen’s Houthis vowed fierce retaliation for the US-led strikes, further raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already beset by Israel’s war in Gaza.
US military and White House officials said they expected the Houthis to try to strike back.