The officials spoke on condition of anonymity and did not provide details on the target or how many missiles were launched.

Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and have threatened to expand their attacks to include US ships in response to earlier American and British strikes from last week.

The US military said earlier on Wednesday that a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen had struck a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

There were no injuries and some damage reported in the attack, the US Central Command said on X, formerly called Twitter. The vessel, M/V Genco Picardy, is “a Marshall Islands-flagged, US owned and operated bulk carrier ship,” according to the US Central Command.

The US on Wednesday returned the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups, as the militants also claimed another attack this week on a US-operated vessel in the Red Sea region.