Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have launched a missile attack on a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
Sanaa:
Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have launched a missile attack on a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea in retaliation for recent deadly attacks by the US and Britain in Yemen, Al Jazeera reported.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced the attack on the Eisenhower aircraft carrier on Friday, following the group's previous claims that at least 16 people were killed in US and British attacks on Yemen's Hodeidah province. This marks the highest publicly acknowledged number of deaths from multiple rounds of strikes linked to the group's alleged attacks on shipping.
Al Masirah Television, a Houthi-controlled channel, broadcast images of wounded civilians being treated in Hodeidah and revealed the fallout from Thursday's attacks. At least 42 people were injured.
“The US-British aggression will not prevent us from continuing our military operations in support of Palestine,” Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on X, warning that the rebels would “meet escalation with escalation.”
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that strikes on thirteen Houthi targets resulted in the destruction of eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and over the Red Sea, according to Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense stated that Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s carried out attacks on Hodeidah and Ghulayfiqah. It defined targets as “buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long-range drones, as well as surface-to-air weapons.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the military action as a form of “self-defense in the face of the continued threat posed by the Houthis.”
The Houthi movement, which is aligned with Iran, controls significant parts of Yemen after nearly a decade of conflict against a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition. They have vociferously supported the Palestinians amid Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza, carrying out repeated drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November.
Iran condemned the US-Britain attacks as “violations of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity… international laws and human rights,” Al Jazeera reported, citing Iranian state media.
“The American and British governments of the aggressor are responsible for the consequences of these crimes against the Yemeni people,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
According to the U.S. Maritime Administration, Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on shipping, causing casualties, ship seizures and disruptions to global trade routes. The campaign has forced shipping companies to find alternative routes, affecting about 12 percent of global trade that passes through the Red Sea.
Despite retaliatory strikes from the US and Britain aimed at reducing the Houthis' capabilities, the rebels have continued their attacks. In their latest actions, they targeted a Greek bulk carrier and other ships in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.
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