Jakarta –
Rebels Houthi in Yemen attacked a cargo ship belonging to United States (US) with a missile. This raises concerns for the volatile region after repeated attacks on ships prompted attacks by the US and UK.
Reported AFPTuesday (16/1), after Western attacks on a number of targets last Friday (12/1), the Houthi group said they would not be deterred and stated that US and British interests were legitimate targets.
The Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship Gibraltar Eagle suffered a fire, but there were no casualties and remained seaworthy, US Central Command said, after the latest attack in recent days.
“Iran-backed Houthi militants fired anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory and attacked the M/V Gibraltar Eagle,” he wrote on X’s social media account.
“The ship reported no injuries or significant damage and continued its journey,” added CENTCOM, which directs US military operations in the region.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree later said the rebels “conducted military operations targeting American ships” in the Gulf of Aden using “an appropriate number of naval missiles”.
Houthi military and Yemeni government sources said that the rebels fired three missiles on Monday (15/1). An anti-ship ballistic missile launched earlier towards shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea failed in flight and crashed on land, CENTCOM said.
The incident in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Red Sea, came a day after a Houthi cruise missile targeting a US destroyer was shot down by a US warplane.
The attacks on and against the Houthi group, which is part of the “resistance axis” of groups allied to Iran, have raised fears of widespread violence in the region due to the Gaza war.
The Houthis say their attacks on ships in the Red Sea are a show of solidarity with Iran-backed Gaza, which has been at war with Israel for more than three months.
About 12% of global trade normally passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea between southwest Yemen and Djibouti, but rebel attacks have caused much shipping to be diverted thousands of miles across Africa.
The US Department of Transportation recommended that US-linked commercial vessels not enter the Southern Red Sea, and warned of a high level of risk of potential retaliatory attacks.
(rfs/rfs)
2024-01-15 21:32:47
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