AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Sunday that they had fired a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles against British, Israeli and American commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that they had launched five attacks on vessels in the past 72 hours, including firing naval missiles at Hope Island in the Red Sea, MSC Grace F and MSC Gina in the Indian Ocean.
The first ship is owned by the UK and the other two by Israel.
Sarea said that they also conducted two drone strikes on two US Navy frigates in the Red Sea, adding that their drones and missiles hit their targets.
He added that the assaults were in support of the Palestinian people and retribution for US and UK bombings on areas of Yemen under their control.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to carry out the decision to block Israeli ships and those traveling to occupied Palestinian ports from sailing in the Red and Arab Seas, as well as the Indian Ocean, until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted,” Sarea said.
This is the first statement from the Houthi military spokesperson since March 26.
According to www.marinetraffic.com, which provides information about ship movements and locations, Hope Island is a marshal-flagged container ship sailing from Jeddah port in Saudi Arabia to Mombasa in Kenya, MSC Grace F is a general cargo ship sailing from Mogadishu port in Somalia to an unidentified port and flying the Panama flag, and MSC Gina is also a Panama-flagged container ship sailing from Sri Lanka to Salalah port in Oman.
The Houthis have previously accused US, UK and Israeli ships of hoisting the Marshall Island flag while traveling in the Red Sea to escape strikes.
The Houthi statement came hours after the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors ship attacks, reported two incidents near Yemen’s southern and western shores in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea over the past 24 hours.
On Sunday, the UKMTO received an alert concerning an event 59 nautical miles southwest of Aden, in which the master of a ship reported that a missile had landed in the sea near the ship’s port quarter, but that the ship and its crew were undamaged.
The British agency on Sunday quoted a ship’s master as stating that two missiles were detected 60 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah in the Red Sea, one of which was destroyed by US-led coalition marine troops and the other exploded nearby.
“The vessel reports no damage and the crew are reported safe. The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call,” UKMTO said in its notice.
Since November, the Houthis have launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at international commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis claim they solely target Israel-linked or Israel-bound ships to push Israel to let humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Houthi attacks, the US and UK launched dozens of strikes on targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, Hodeidah and Saada.
Last week, the militia’s leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said that 424 strikes by US and UK armies had killed 37 people and injured 30 others and that his troops had fired 125 ballistic missiles and drones against 90 ships during the past 30 days.
