Yemen’s Houthi group announced that it had attacked two US and Israeli ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean with drones, emphasising that “the two operations successfully achieved their goals”, Arab media reported.
Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, said in a video message late Wednesday night that the Houthis had struck the Maersk Yorktown cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.
The US military confirmed that the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile from their territory at the vessel, which they said was “US-flagged, owned and operated, with 18 American and four Greek crew members on board.” The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement:
There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships.
Greece’s Ministry of National Defence said on Thursday that one of the country’s warships participating in the European Union’s anti-Houthi naval mission in the Red Sea intercepted two drones launched towards a commercial vessel from Yemen.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) earlier confirmed the incident, which took place about 72 nautical miles (133 kilometres) southeast of the port of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden.
Saree said the group attacked the Israeli vessel MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean and launched projectiles at the US warship. The US military said its forces “successfully engaged and destroyed” four drones over Yemen within two hours of the attack on the Maersk Yorktown vessel. It added:
These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels.
The Houthis, who support the Palestinian armed group Hamas, have been attacking ships in waters off their coasts since November, saying they want to stop Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The group gradually extended its attacks from Israel-linked ships to commercial vessels and warships belonging to the US and Britain as Washington mobilised a maritime coalition to defend against the attacks and, along with the British military, carried out numerous air raids on Yemeni territory.
According to the US Maritime Administration, in addition to the hijacking of a commercial vessel in November and the sinking of a UK-owned ship in March, the Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on maritime vessels since November.
The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping through the Suez Canal, forcing companies to switch to longer and more expensive voyages around southern Africa.
