DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A missile fired from Yemen hit a commercial vessel off the war-torn country’s coast, maritime security firm Ambrey said early Thursday, after Houthi rebels claimed an attack an American ship.
“A merchant vessel was reportedly targeted with a ‘missile’ while underway… southwest of Aden, Yemen,” said Ambrey, adding that “the vessel reported an explosion” on board.
“Ambrey was aware that a missile was fired from… Taiz,” a governorate in Yemen, the firm said further.
The statement came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they had fired missiles at a US ship headed for Israeli ports.
The missiles “directly hit a vessel” identified by the rebels as “Kol”, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on social media.
Saree said the ship was hit in the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis, part of the anti-Western, anti-Israel “Axis of Resistance” of Iranian-backed groups, have been harassing Red Sea shipping for months, triggering US and British retaliatory strikes.
The Houthis have launched more than 30 attacks on commercial shipping and naval vessels since November 19, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The rebels say the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians and to protest the war between Israel and Hamas that has been raging in the Gaza Strip since October.
The attacks have prompted some shipping companies to bypass southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.
In response, US and British forces launched strikes targeting Houthi missiles and other military installations. The US has also carried out a number of unilateral strikes.
On Wednesday, US forces destroyed a missile belonging to the Houthi rebels, the military said.
US forces “engaged and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile that was ready for launch” after determining it “posed an imminent threat to US aircraft”, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV earlier reported that US and British aircraft had struck the northern city of Saada, but did not identify a specific target or provide information on damage or casualties.
