Off the wire
• Urgent: Over 10 killed in car bombing in S. Afghanistan: official  • Egypt condemns terrorist attack in Turkey  • Houthis deny reports of targeting U.S. ship off Yemeni coasts  • Egyptian president in Khartoum for conclusion of Sudan's national dialogue conference  • Xinhua Insight: China moves to curb property speculation  • Urgent: 2 economists share 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • S. Korean political heavyweight proposes to halt THAAD discussion  • Singapore stocks close 0.17 pct lower  • Iraqi court nullifies Abadi's earlier decision to sack 3 vice president posts  
You are here: 　 Home

Update: Houthis deny targeting U.S. warship off Yemeni coasts

Xinhua, October 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Houthi military official on Monday denied reports that the rebel group targetted a U.S. warship on Sunday, Houthi-run Saba news agency reported.

"The reports that allege the Yemeni rocketry targeted a warship off the Yemeni coasts were baseless and aimed to cover the heinous Saudi crime of Saturday's air attacks on the civilian funeral hall in the capital Sanaa," Saba quoted the official as saying.

The official was referring to an attack, blamed by the Houthis on a Saudi-led coalition, on Saturday that killed more than 140 people and wounded over 400 others attending a funeral ceremony in Sanaa.

The official called on media outlets not to get dragged into "irresponsible rumors," Saba said.

The Houthi statement came hours after reports that a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer was targeted on Sunday in a failed missile attack from areas under Houthi control in Yemen.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a "prompt and impartial" probe into the funeral attack, stressing that "any deliberate attack against civilians is utterly unacceptable."

The United States said it would review its support for the Saudi-led coalition, which has promised to "immediately investigate."

At the United Nations, the Saudi mission issued a statement on Sunday expressing "deep regret" and promising "full cooperation" with investigators. Endit