Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an attack early Sunday that resulted in explosives detonating near a ship in the Gulf of Aden, the UK Army said.
Britain’s maritime safety agency UKMTO said the ship’s crew saw the explosion while sailing off the coast of Aden, a port city in southern Yemen and the seat of the country’s internationally recognized government.
“No damage to the ship was reported and the crew are safe,” UKMTO, which is overseen by the British Army, added in a statement posted on social media site X (formerly Twitter).
Hours earlier, US Central Command (Centcom) said it carried out a series of attacks against the Houthis on Saturday that resulted in the destruction of five unmanned maritime devices (drones) and an aerial device being prepared for launch.
Centcom, which is responsible for the Middle East, also said US forces shot down a rebel drone over the Red Sea and another was “believed to have crashed.”
“There were no reports of damage or injury to ships nearby,” the command said.
The Houthis began by attacking Israeli territory and against ships with any connection to Israel, following an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has already killed more than 31,500 people, according to the Hamas government.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023, when militants from the Palestinian Islamist group carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 150.
The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s capital Sanaa and other areas in the north and west of the country since 2015.
The Houthis’ actions have forced many shipowners to suspend passage through Red Sea shipping lanes, prompting the US to assemble an international coalition to ensure security in the area.
In response, Yemeni rebels also began attacking ships linked to the United States and Britain.
According to the International Monetary Fund, container traffic through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden fell by almost 30% over the year.
Before the war, between 12% and 15% of global traffic passed through the Red Sea, according to the European Union.
In a speech Thursday evening, rebel leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi stressed that the Houthis would “continue and expand the target of operations” to prevent ships from “crossing the Indian Ocean and heading from South Africa to the Cape of Good Hope.”
Yemen, at war for more than a decade, is considered the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal

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