By Deutsche Welle
16 Jul 2024, 09:38 AM EDT
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim new ballistic missile attacksdrones and unmanned ships against three merchant ships linked to Israel, two in the Red Sea and the third “jointly” with anti-Israeli Iraqi militias in the Mediterranean.
Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea described the three new actions as “qualitative” and “successful,” saying that “the first of them targeted the BENTLEY I ship in the Red Sea, using several ships, drones and ballistic missiles.”
“The second operation was carried out against the oil tanker CHIOS Lion “We also attacked the Red Sea with an unmanned vessel,” Sarea added in a statement, saying that “the impact was precise and direct.”
The Saudi-led group accused both ships of having “violated the ban on going to ports in occupied Palestine” in reference to Israeli ports, although it did not provide details about the vessels attacked.
He added that “the third operation was carried out in cooperation with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance in the Mediterranean and targeted the ship Olvia. The operation successfully achieved its objective.”
More than 100 attacks in eight months
His remarks came hours after the British Navy reported two attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, about 97 and 70 nautical miles from the Yemeni port city of Hodeida respectively.
The Houthis, backed by Iran and who have controlled large areas of northern, central and western Yemen since 2014, Since last November, they have launched more than a hundred attacks against ships in the Red and Arabian Seas. those linked to Israel, in response to that country’s war in Gaza.
The Shiite group has increased the frequency and intensity of these actions in recent weeks, while they have presented new weapons with which they claim they can reach targets in the Mediterranean, although so far all attacks against that sea have been intercepted.
Keep reading:
• The United States carried out retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iranian militias
• US destroys two Houthi missiles in Yemen
• US repels new Houthi attack on one of its ships in Gulf of Aden