Houthis claim they are targeting American and Israeli ships

Sanaa: Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed responsibility for launching three attacks, targeting two US ships in the Gulf of Aden and an Israeli ship in the Indian Ocean.

“In support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and in response to US-British aggression against our country (Yemen), our naval forces conducted a military operation targeting the US ship (MAERSK YORKTOWN) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of suitable naval missiles, and the hit was accurate,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Wednesday.

“We also carried out two other military operations using bomb-laden drones, one of which targeted a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of drones, and the other operation targeted the Israeli ship (MSC VERACRUZ) in the Indian Ocean. with a number of drones. Both operations successfully achieved their objectives,” he said, without specifying the date of those attacks.

“We affirm that we will continue to prevent Israeli ships or any other ship bound for Israel from transiting the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean until Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza is stopped and the siege is lifted ” said Sarea. said, promising his group would take more action in the coming days.

Earlier in the day, Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations reported an explosion near a ship in the Gulf of Aden, which caused no damage or casualties, according to Xinhua news agency.

The Houthi group has controlled much of northern Yemen since the Yemeni civil war broke out in late 2014.

After the Israeli-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, the Houthi group declared its support for Hamas and began attacking ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea in November.

In response to the Houthi attacks, the US and Britain launched a joint military operation in January, carrying out airstrikes and missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

After the military action by Washington and London, the Houthi group vowed retaliation and expanded its targeting to include American and British ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.