DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, authorities said Friday.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks, although they came after a months-long campaign by the rebels against shipping through the Red Sea corridor. Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After a recent two-week pause, their attacks have resumed after The assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.the main benefactor of the Houthis, amid renewed concerns about the possibility of the war escalating into a regional conflict.
“Operations are ongoing: our operations towards occupied Palestine to attack the Israeli enemy, our operations at sea, the inevitable upcoming response, as well as coordination with the Axis in any joint operation,” warned the secretive Houthi leader. , Abdul Malik al-Houthis. “The decision to respond is a collective decision, at the level of the entire axis and at the level of each front individually”
In the first attack, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near the ship on Thursday, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations centre. Two smaller boats, with men on board dressed in white and yellow raincoats, launched the RPG, the UKMTO said.
The second attack occurred early on Friday, with a missile “exploding very close to the ship,” the UKMTO said. “The ship and crew are reported to be safe.”
Private security company Ambrey, which said the ship had a private security team on board, described the ship as having been hit by a drone that caused no injuries or physical damage.
“The ship was considered to be aligned with the Houthi target profile,” Ambrey said. “The ship was considered to have been attacked earlier in the day.”
Although the Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, it can sometimes take hours or even days to acknowledge their attacks, while claiming others that apparently did not occur.
The Houthis have attacked more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors. They have seized a boat and sunk two in the time since then. Other missiles and drones have been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or have fallen before reaching their targets.
The rebels maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign they say seeks to force an end to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war, including some bound for Iran.
Since November, Houthi attacks have disrupted the trillion-dollar flow of goods that passes through the region annually while causing the most intense combat the US Navy has seen since World War II.
The Houthis have also launched drones and missiles toward Israel, including a attack on July 19 that killed one person and injured 10 other people in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida, which Hit fuel depots and power stations.killing and wounding several people, the rebels claim.
After the attacks, the Houthis stopped their attacks until Saturday, when collided with a Liberian-flagged container ship sailing in the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets arrived in the Middle East from a base in the United Kingdom on Thursday, officials said Thursday.
US Central Command posted images of the fighters online, saying their presence in the region was “to address threats posed by Iran and Iranian-backed groups.”
The United States has declined to say where the plane landed due to host country sensitivities.
Central Command later said it destroyed two Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and a Houthi ground control station, as well as an unmanned ship in the Red Sea.
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