Houthis claim responsibility for new missile attack on U.S. ship

Yemen's Houthi group on Friday claimed responsibility for carrying out a missile attack on a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthis) carried out an attack targeting a U.S. ship (Chem Ranger) in the Gulf of Aden with several appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV. 

The U.S. military confirmed that Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker ship and there was no reported damage or injuries.

The attacks "will continue until a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip is imposed, and the siege is lifted," Sarea said, adding that their escalation comes in support of the Palestinians.

U.S. forces on Thursday conducted new strikes against Houthi military sites in Yemen, destroying two Houthi anti-ship missiles that "were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The U.S. re-designated the Houthi militant group as a terrorist organization on Wednesday, citing the Houthis' continued threats to and attacks on "United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday acknowledged that the strikes had not halted attacks by the Houthis but said the U.S. military response would continue.

The U.S. has claimed that its strikes on Houthi targets were launched in self-defense and aimed at protecting Red Sea shipping lanes.

"We are not at war with the Houthis," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Thursday, arguing that "the Houthis are the ones that continue to launch cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles at innocent mariners."

(Cover: Yemen's Houthi movement's followers in Sanaa, Yemen, January 18, 2024. /CFP)