DUBAI: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Tuesday on a container ship in the Red Sea and for an attempt to attack Israel with drones.
MSC Mediterranean Shipping said there were no injuries to its crew from the attack on its ship, the United VIII, en route from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan. It said the ship had informed a nearby coalition naval warship that it had come under attack and had taken evasive maneuvers.
Israel said separately that its aircraft had intercepted a hostile aerial target in the Red Sea area.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea in a televised address said the group had targeted the vessel, which he identified as the MSC United, after the crew failed to respond to warnings.
He also said the Houthis had carried out a military operation targeting Eilat and other areas in Israel, which he referred to as occupied Palestine. He did not say whether any of the targets were successfully hit.
US fighter jets, a navy destroyer and other assets shot down in the Red Sea 12 drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two cruise missiles fired by the Houthis, US Central Command said. There was no damage to ships and no reported injuries, it wrote on social media platform X.
The Houthis, who control much of Yemen including the capital, have since October attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea they say have Israeli links or are sailing to Israel, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Authority earlier reported two incidents of explosions in the Red Sea off of the coast of Yemen involving missiles and drones near a vessel. It also said there were no reported injuries.
The reported incidents come a week after the United States announced a multinational maritime security initiative in the Red Sea in response to attacks on vessels by Yemen’s Houthis.
Several shipping lines have suspended operations through the Red Sea waterway in response to the attacks, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.
The Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza, and warned that it would attack US warships if the militia group itself was targeted.
Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Pakistan-bound container ship in Red Sea
https://arab.news/8atvf
Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Pakistan-bound container ship in Red Sea
- The group has attacked commercial vessels in the sea since October which it says have Israeli links
- Several shipping lines have suspended operations through the Red Sea in response to the attacks
At least one killed, nine injured in IED blast in northwestern Pakistan
- Blast takes place near vehicle carrying employees of Lucky Cement factory in Lakki Marwat district, say police
- No group has claimed responsibility for IED blast as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police launch probe into the incident
PESHAWAR: At least one person was killed and nine others were injured in Pakistan’s northwestern Lakki Marwat district on Monday after an improvised explosive device (IED) blast occurred near a vehicle transporting employees of a cement factory, a police official said.
Lakki Marwat police official Shahid Marwat told Arab News the blast took place on the district’s Begu Khel Road at around 6:30 a.m. The explosion occurred near a vehicle carrying employees of the Lucky Cement factory located in the district, he said.
“Initial investigations suggest the device had been planted by militants,” Marwat said. “A rapid police response force was immediately deployed to the scene to evacuate the dead and wounded, secure the area and collect evidence.”
The police officer said several victims were in critical condition and were referred for treatment to the nearby Bannu district, adding that all those affected by the blast were residents of Begu Khel village.
He said police had launched an investigation into the incident.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past against Pakistani law enforcers and civilians in the province.
The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani law enforcers since 2008 in its bid to impose its own brand of strict Islamic law across the country.
The attack comes as Pakistan struggles to contain a sharp surge in militant violence in recent months. According to statistics released last month by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), combat-related deaths in 2025 rose by 73 percent to 3,387, compared with 1,950 deaths in 2024.
These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians, and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said. Most of the attacks took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Pashtun-majority districts and southwestern Balochistan province, the PICSS noted.
On Sunday, three traffic police officials were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Lakki Marwat district. No group claimed responsibility for the incident.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan government of harboring militants who launch attacks against Pakistan, a charge Kabul repeatedly denies. The surge in militant attacks in Pakistan has strained ties between the two neighbors, with Islamabad urging Kabul to take steps to dismantle militant outfits allegedly operating from its soil.
