A suspected missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels damaged a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, the latest attack in their campaign against international shipping in the vital sea route.
The attack occurred off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, according to the British Maritime Trade Operations Center. UKMTO said the ship was damaged in the attack, but her crew were safe and were heading to their next port of call. The agency urged ships to use caution in the area.
Iran-backed Houthis claim responsibility for US Reaper drone crash off Yemen coast
UKMTO said: “There was an explosion in the immediate vicinity of the merchant vessel.” “The vessel and crew are reported to be safe.”
Suspected missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted ships in the Red Sea, the latest attack in their campaign against international shipping in the vital sea route. (AP photo)
Private security firm Ambry announced that a volley of three missiles was fired at a Maltese-flagged container ship heading from Djibouti to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“This vessel was targeted because the listed operator had ongoing trade with Israel,” Ambry said.
Shipper CMA CGM, based in Marseille, France, had scheduled the Maltese-flagged CMA CGM Mantaray to sail from Djibouti to Jeddah on Monday. However, the shipper said the ship remained in port in Djibouti and could not have been the target of the incident.
“Yemeni forces conducted military operations against enemy warships in the Red Sea, of which two US warships were targeted by numerous drones,” the Houthis said in a statement late Monday.
The statement said attacks on ships would not stop “unless the siege is lifted and attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are stopped.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, Italy’s Ministry of Defense announced that the frigate Virgino Fasan shot down a Houthi drone near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that morning.
“The missile exploded in the waters near the escort ship, and the superficial damage was minor,” Italy’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, without specifying the merchant ship it was escorting. “The frigate Fasan and her protected merchant vessel continue their southward course to exit the Red Sea as planned.”
The Houthis say the attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians. ing. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Since November, the Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on ships, capturing one and sinking another, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have declined in Yemen in recent weeks as rebels have been targeted by a US-led air campaign. Transport through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has decreased due to threats.
U.S. officials speculate that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of U.S.-led counterinsurgency operations and months of steady fires of drones and missiles. . However, rebels have resumed attacks in the past week. Early Sunday morning, the U.S. military shot down five unmanned aircraft over the Red Sea, the Central Command announced.
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Central Command said in a statement that the drones “posed an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and commercial shipping in the region.”
The Houthis on Saturday claimed to have shot down another U.S. military drone, the MQ-9 Reaper, and aired footage of parts that corresponded to parts of a known drone. U.S. Air Force Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Brian J. McGarry confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that a “U.S. Air Force MQ-9 unmanned aircraft has crashed in Yemen.” He did not go into details, saying the investigation was ongoing.
