Houthi group targets US-owned ship off Yemeni coast with rockets

ANKARA

Keeping its pledge to retaliate against last week’s US and UK airstrikes, Yemeni Houthis on Monday announced they had targeted a US-owned ship with naval rockets off the Yemeni coast.

In a statement, the group's spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack took place in the Gulf of Aden and claimed that the strike was "accurate and direct."

He added that the attack was carried out in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza who "are exposed to the heinous massacres by the Zionist Entity,” meaning Israel, and in response to "the US-UK aggression on our country."

The US military confirmed the attack by the Houthi group off the coast of Yemen.

"On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship," the US Central Command said on X.

On Thursday, the US and UK started series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted vessels in the southern Red Sea, and warned they will attack all Israeli-bound ships. They said the attacks are meant to support Palestinians as they face Israel's "aggression and siege" in Gaza.

The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar