AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Friday that it fired a salvo of ballistic missiles toward the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea in revenge for the US and UK airstrikes on Thursday, which it claims killed and injured 58 people.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that 16 persons were killed and 41 injured in the last wave of US and UK missile attacks on the Red Sea province of Hodeidah alone on Thursday, which targeted Hodeidah Radio, a coast guard facility on Al-Saleef port.
Other US and UK strikes hit the capital Sanaa, Sanaa province, Houthi-controlled sections of Taiz province, and two mansions in Hodeidah owned by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and former Vice President Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmer, injuring another person.
“This is an obvious targeting of civilian targets, a flagrant breach of all international law, and a full-fledged war crime,” the Houthi spokesperson said in a televised statement.
In reprisal for the strikes, Sarea said that its navy and missile forces jointly fired a number of ballistic missiles at the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea, pledging to continue striking ships in international seas in support of the Palestinian people.
People in the targeted Houthi locations, mostly in Hodeidah, described hearing enormous explosions and witnessing massive balls of flames pouring from the targets.
The Houthi military spokesperson’s statement came hours after the US Central Command said its forces, together with UK forces, carried out preemptive attacks against 13 Houthi targets in Yemen under their control on Thursday, without mentioning the areas targeted.
Also on Thursday, US Central Command troops destroyed eight drones launched from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen over the Red Sea, according to the US military.
Since January, the US and UK have carried out dozens of strikes in Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, and other Houthi-controlled Yemeni provinces, targeting what the two countries say are missile and drone launchers, as well as explosive-laden drone boats preparing to launch at international shipping in the Red Sea.
On Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said that his forces had attacked 129 ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and, most recently, the Mediterranean, as well as shot down six US military MQ-9 Reaper drones since the start of their operations against ships in November and that they would cease attacks once Israel’s war in Gaza ended.
Houthis claim attack on US aircraft carrier in retaliation for deadly strikes
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Houthis claim attack on US aircraft carrier in retaliation for deadly strikes
- 16 persons were killed and 41 injured in the last wave of US and UK missile attacks on the Red Sea province of Hodeidah
- “This is an obvious targeting of civilian targets, a flagrant breach of all international law, and a full-fledged war crime,” the Houthi spokesperson said
UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon
- “Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF soldiers in a Merkava tank,” UNIFIL said
- It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory
BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers a day earlier in the country’s south, urging Israel’s army to “cease aggressive behavior.”
It is the latest such incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
“Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF (Israeli army) soldiers in a Merkava tank,” a UNIFIL statement said, referring to the de facto border.
“One ten-round burst of machine-gun fire was fired above the convoy, and four further ten-round bursts were fired nearby,” the statement said.
It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory at the time of the incident and that the Israeli military had been informed of the location and timing of the peacekeeping patrol in advance.
“Peacekeepers asked the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL’s liaison channels... Fortunately, no one was injured,” it said.
Last month UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots.
In October, UNIFIL said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
“Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of (UN) Security Council Resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said on Wednesday, referring to the 2006 resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.
“We call on the IDF to cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working to rebuild stability along the Blue Line,” the peacekeepers said.
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
On Saturday, a UN Security Council delegation visiting Lebanon urged all parties to uphold the ceasefire.
It emphasized that the “safety of peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted,” after gunmen on mopeds attacked UNIFIL personnel last week.
