An American warship and multiple commercial vessels reportedly came under attack in the international waters of the Red Sea, as Houthi militants claimed responsibility for the latest incursion in the Middle East, where tensions have been high since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Yemen’s Houthis claimed they carried out targeted operations against ‘two Israeli ships’ in the Red Sea on Sunday, the latest in a series of actions by the rebel group linked to Israel’s war on Hamas.
The Houthi posting on X, formerly Twitter, followed an Associated Press report that a U.S. destroyer had come under attack. In a statement, the Pentagon said it’s ‘aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea’,
An initial assessment concluded that the U.S. ship wasn’t the target and wasn’t attacked, according to a person familiar with the situation. The U.S. ship responded to distress calls by the commercial vessels, the person said.
The Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel group backed by Iran, said the Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier Unity Explorer was struck by a missile and the Panama-flagged container ship Number 9 was hit by a naval drone.
The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks on vessels in the region since rebels in Yemen last month issued a threat against ships with ties to Israel, calling them ‘legitimate targets’”. -Christine Burke and Tarek El-Tablawy, Bloomberg
The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, have been targeting Israeli-linked ships and firing missiles and drones at Israel in what is being seen as the latest in a series of maritime attacks on regional shipping routes linked to the Israel-Hamas war emanating from Yemen.
Despite being a militia group with no air force or navy, the Houthis not only prevailed in the Yemeni civil war by being able to defeat the U.S.-backed Saudi-led military coalition that intervened against them back in 2015 but also delivered on their promise to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red and Arab seas until the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip gets put to an end.