Update: Yemen Houthi rebels deny attacking U.S. warship

Yemen's dominant Shiite Houthi rebels on Thursday denied targeting a U.S. warship off the Yemeni coasts from territories they control, Houthi-controlled state Saba news agency reported.

"These allegations were baseless and the army as well popular forces have nothing to do with targeting the U.S. ship," the Houthis said in a statement carried by the agency.

"The U.S. allegations just came in the context of creating false justifications to pave the way for the Saudi-led coalition to escalate their aggression attacks (against Houthis) and to cover crimes committed by the aggression coalition against the Yemeni people and the all-out blockade," the statement said.

The Houthis said that their army and popular forces are "in full readiness to confront any further aggression" under whatever justification.

The Houthi denial followed an announcement on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Defense that the U.S. military struck three radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen's Red Sea coast.

A Pentagon statement described the air raid as "limited self-defense strikes," saying the radars sites targetted were "involved in the recent missile launches threatening USS Mason and other vessels operating in international waters in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb." Endit