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Multiple missiles fired from Huthi rebel-controlled regions in Yemen targeted a United States warship in the Red Sea in the third such incident to take place in a week.

The USS Mason was in international waters when multiple incoming surface-to-surface missiles were detected at around 3:30 p.m. local time, a US defense official said, according to Sky News.

"The Mason once again appears to have come under attack in the Red Sea, again from coastal defense cruise missiles fired from the coast of Yemen," said Admiral John Richardson, US chief of naval operations.

The Mason used unspecified countermeasures against the missiles, and Richardson confirmed there were no hits to US navy vessels and no crew members were injured in the incident.

The USS Mason was targeted earlier this week by a missile originating from an Iran-backed Houthi rebel area. The missile crashed into the ocean before reaching its target.
The Mason and the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport ship, had been previously targeted by two missiles that also fell short.

The US responded by bombing three Houthi radar sites in the first direct US strike against the group.

The United States is backing a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed rebels and the forces of former Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Saleh.

But US air forces are not directly involved in strikes in Yemen, that are increasingly criticized by the international community for their devastating impact on civilians.

The Huthis swept into Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced across much of Yemen, forcing the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.

The conflict has killed more than 6,700 people -- almost two-thirds of them civilians -- and displaced at least three million since the coalition launched military operations, according to the United Nations.

(Staff with agencies)