DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthis said on Tuesday they targeted the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian sea with several ballistic and wing missiles.
“The American ship Maersk Sentosa was targeted in the Arabian Sea by naval forces and missile force in a joint operation,” Yahya Sarea, the Yemeni group’s military spokesperson, said in a televised speech.
Earlier on Tuesday, shipping giant Maersk said one of its vessels, the Maersk Sentosa, reported being targeted by a flying object in the north of the Gulf of Aden.
Maersk told Reuters that no injuries to the crew or damage to the ship or cargo were reported.
A spokesperson for the Copenhagen-based company said the ship was one of its US-flagged vessels sailing for the subsidiary Maersk Line, Limited.
The captain of an unnamed merchant ship reported an explosion close to the vessel some 180 nautical miles (333 km) east of Yemen’s Nishtun, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in an advisory note on Tuesday.
UKMTO added that the vessel and its crew are safe.
Sarea also said the group targeted the Marathopolis ship in the Arabian Sea and the MSC Patnaree ship in the Gulf of Aden with a number of drones.
Houthi militants in Yemen have launched drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza.
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Maersk Sentosa ship in Arabian Sea
https://arab.news/bctxy
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Maersk Sentosa ship in Arabian Sea
- Maersk told Reuters that no injuries to the crew or damage to the ship or cargo were reported
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
