United States: Iran-aligned Houthi rebels from Yemen say they targeted US and Israeli ships, with a Western coalition of naval warships patrolling the area to prevent further consequences of the Gaza war.
The downed vessel belonged to the Maersk line and was called Maersk Yorktown. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman of the Houthis, said in a video address late on Wednesday that their forces had targeted the ship that sailed in the Gulf of Aden.
Confirmation of attack by the US
The attack has been confirmed by the US military, stating that an antiship ballistic missile by Houthis was fired from their territory, targetting the naval vessel, identified as a “US-flagged, owned, and operated vessel with 18 US and four Greek crew members”.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated, “There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships,” as Aljazeera reported.
How are the other countries responding?
The Greek Ministry of National Defence responded on Thursday to an incident in which a Greek military ship, serving the European Union’s mission to confront the Houthi militia in the Red Sea, intercepted two drones launched to target a commercial ship from Yemen.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) press release confirmed its earlier incident regarding a vessel shadowed some 72 nautical miles (133km) Southeast of the port of Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden.
The UK pointed out in an official statement that the ship HMS Diamond, belonging to the Royal Navy, launched the interception of a missile fired by Houthis from Yemen towards a merchant vessel.
British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps stated, “The UK continues to be at the forefront of the international response to the Iranian-backed Houthis’ dangerous attacks on commercial vessels, which have claimed the lives of international mariners,” as Aljazeera reported.
Counterattack by the US military
The statement from the US military confirmed that within a span of two hours, the US responded to the attack in Maersk Yorktown, and its forces “successfully engaged and destroyed” four drones over Yemen.
It added, “These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels.”
More about Houthis
The Houthis, who support the Palestinian armed group Hamas, have been conducting assaults on vessels in the maritime trails off their coast since November based on their own claim of halting the Israeli war in Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, among them women and children.
Initially, the group directed its attacks at ships linked to Israel, but the attacks then progressed to vessels from the United States and the United Kingdom. When Washington mobilized a security-oriented coalition against the attacks, along with the military forces of the British, attacked the Yemeni ground in many air raids.