DUBAI: An attack by Yemen‘s Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship travelling through the Gulf of Aden but apparently caused no damage, authorities said Saturday, in the latest strike on the shipping lane by the group.
The Houthi attack comes after the sinking this week of the ship Tutor, which marked what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign of strikes on ships in the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, US officials reportedly ordered the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, the aircraft carrier leading America’s response to the Houthi attacks, to return home after a twice-extended tour. The captain of the ship targeted late Friday saw “explosions in the vicinity of the vessel”, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. A later briefing by the US-overseen Joint Maritime Information Centre said the vessel reported two explosions off its port side and a third one later. “It was not hit and sustained no damage,” the centre said. “The vessel and crew are reported to be safe and are proceeding to their next port of call.”
The Houthis have launched more than 60 attacks targeting specific vessels and fired off other missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed a total of four sailors. They have seized one vessel and sunk two since November. A US-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.
In March, the Belize-flagged Rubymar carrying fertilizer became the first to sink after taking on water for days following a rebel attack.ap
