Missile fire strikes a ship just off the coast of Yemen, UK military says

Houthi fighters and tribal supporters hold up their firearms during a protest against US-led strikes on Houthi targets, near Sanaa. — Reuters

Missile fire struck a ship just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, the British military said.

Trade Operations, which oversees Mideast waters, said the attack happened some 177 kilometres southeast of Aden.

It offered few details, but said the ship’s captain reported that the “port side of vessel hit from above by a missile”. It did not identify the ship or elaborate.

The US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Yemen’s Houthi rebels did not immediately acknowledge any attack, though they have fired missiles previously in that area.

Earlier on Sunday, Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea but a US fighter jet shot it down in the latest attack roiling global shipping amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, officials said.

The attack on Sunday marked the first US-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes on the rebels on Friday following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted that crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe over the Israel-Hamas war, attacks that threaten to widen that conflict into a regional conflagration.

The Houthi fire on Sunday went in the direction of the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command said in a statement.

The missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the US said.

“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”

The first day of US-led strikes on Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine. Sites hit included weapon depots, radars and command centres, including in remote mountain areas, the US said.

Shipping through the Red Sea has slowed over the attacks. The US Navy on Friday warned American-flagged vessels to steer clear of areas around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for 72 hours after the initial airstrikes.