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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 11 2016, @01:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the oh-shoot dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Saudi military base also targeted by missile fired deep inside the kingdom near holy city of Mecca.

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/navy-ship-targeted-missile-attack-yemen-161010034052132.html

A US Navy destroyer has been targeted in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, a US military spokesman says.

In another attack, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen targeted a Saudi airbase near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi and rebel media reported Monday, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by the rebels and their allies.

Two missiles failed to hit the US Navy ship after being launched on Sunday, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told Reuters news agency.

"USS Mason detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period while in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship," he said. "There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship."

Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey, a Navy spokesman, said on Monday that it was unclear if the Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction.

The destroyer at the time of the missile fire was north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, a defence official said.

[...] On Monday, Saudi state television broadcast a brief clip of what appeared to be a projectile landing in Taif and the flash of an explosion, followed by images of emergency vehicles.

Taif is home to Saudi Arabia's King Fahad Air Base, which hosts US military personnel training the kingdom's armed forces.

The Saudi military said the missile fired late on Saturday caused no damage. The US military's Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al-Masirah, a satellite news channel run by the Houthis, identified the missile as a local variant of a Soviet-era Scud missile. It said the Volcano-1 missile targeted the airbase.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 11 2016, @08:15AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 11 2016, @08:15AM (#412849) Journal

    "a couple of missiles fell out of the sky somewhere vaguely near the US ship but apparently outside its threat perimeter"

    I've seen that before, first hand, with guns. 1981, we were tasked with keeping tabs on Iran's "Million Man Army" and Hussein's Merciless Mothers. We went in closer to shore one day, to get a better look at a battle in progress. I think it was both sides that turned their artillery our way, and started firing. Everything fell way short, like two miles and more short. We were kinda pissed that they were shooting at us, but we didn't really feel threatened. All the same, we got out of Dodge before they had time to learn from their mistakes. I have no way of knowing if their guns even had the range to reach us, but I do know that we were in range to hammer them with our guns.

    The range to the beach was about fifteen miles, the closest guns (that we could see) were about a mile inland, but there may have been more guns behind hills.

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  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @10:25AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @10:25AM (#412883)

    Oh look, there's a battle over there. Let's get involved!

    You guys are fucked in the head.

    • (Score: 2) by ticho on Tuesday October 11 2016, @11:24AM

      by ticho (89) on Tuesday October 11 2016, @11:24AM (#412895) Homepage Journal

      Alas, it's what you do when you consider yourself "World Police".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @04:54PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @04:54PM (#412993)

        And who is the unarmed black person in this scenario?
        Oh wait it fits, all the innocent civilians that the US bombs.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 11 2016, @01:58PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 11 2016, @01:58PM (#412933) Journal

      Dude, life is just a temporary condition. Fucked in the head, you say? I say, "What's to worry about?" Besides, didn't I make it clear that those silly assed Muslims can't hit anything? I've been told that they don't aim, they point the weapon down range somewhere close to the target, close their eyes, pull the trigger/lanyard, and recite "Allah be willing, this shell will hit the target!" The rest of us know that Allah don't give a damn about mortals, so we take careful aim before we fire. These are the same people who bought all those dousing sticks based on some wild assed claim that a high tech dousing stick could find explosives.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:45PM (#412946)

        > I've been told that they don't aim,

        You've been told a lot of things. You seem to be extremely credulous.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:42AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:42AM (#413347)

        Yeah, not really worried about you getting hit. Except that the Good Ol' USA would use it as an excuse to kill yet more people. You're still fucked in the head.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:19PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:19PM (#412939)

      That's nothing new: Back in 1961, at the First Battle of Bull Run / Manassas, a bunch of members of Congress packed a picnic lunch and rode out in their carriages to watch the carnage unfold in person. This stopped seeming like a good idea right about the point when the Union army retreated and the congresscritters had to make a mad dash back to Washington to not get caught by the advancing Confederate forces.

      More recently, there was the firefight between the Boston marathon bombers and the police, with all sorts of random people hanging outside their window trying to get a better view of what was going on even though that was just making it harder for the cops.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 2) by number6x on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:55PM

        by number6x (903) on Tuesday October 11 2016, @02:55PM (#412952)

        1961?

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 11 2016, @03:06PM

          by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday October 11 2016, @03:06PM (#412956)

          Sorry, typo, I of course meant 1861.

          --
          The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @05:30PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 11 2016, @05:30PM (#413015)

            ...though it wouldn't surprise me a bit to know that there were reenactors on the 100th anniversary out there, giving it all they had (including spectators in antebellum garb).

            -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]