US officials say they're not aware of any attack on Eisenhower aircraft carrier after Houthi leader claims group's missile strike was 'accurate and direct'

U.S. defense officials have said they are not aware of any attacks on USS Eisenhower after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed to have launched a barrage of missiles at the aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.

Houthi general Yahya Saree said the attack was in retaliation against 'American-British aggression' - airstrikes overnight which killed 16 people and wounded 41 others, including civilians, according to the group.

Winged and ballistic missiles were used in the attack on the US warship, the military spokesperson said without providing evidence, adding that 'the hits were accurate and direct'. 

He warned that the rebels would 'meet escalation with escalation', and vowed that their forces would 'not hesitate to respond directly and immediately' to 'all hostile American and British targets in the Red and Arabian Seas.'

The U.S. and British militaries said they launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday to deter the militant group from further disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command said coalition forces had hit 13 targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The British defence ministry said the joint operation targeted three locations in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which it said housed drones and surface-to-air weapons.

The coalition strikes targeted the port of Salif, a radio building in Al-Hawk district, Ghalifa camp and two houses, according to the Houthis. 

Houthi-allied Iran condemned the strikes as 'violations of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity... international laws and human rights', Iranian state media reported.

'The aggressor U.S. and British governments are responsible for the consequences of these crimes against the Yemeni people,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas, drawing retaliatory U.S. and British strikes since February.

They have so far launched more than 50 attacks, killed three sailors, seized one vessel and sunk another, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.