U.S. military airstrikes destroyed three anti-ship cruise missile launchers in Houthi-controlled Yemen late Thursday as the armed rebel group stepped up attacks on ships in the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said.
Maritime security monitors said the latest attack by U.S. forces came as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control much of Yemen stepped up operations in the Red Sea, firing missiles at two ships on Thursday after destroying one the day before.
The British agency UK Maritime Trade Operations posted online that a merchant ship was hit by a shell and caught fire about 98 nautical miles east of the Yemeni city of Aden. It did not name the ship.
But U.S. Central Command said two Houthi missiles hit the Verbana, a Ukrainian-owned bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden, seriously injuring a crew member who was later evacuated to another ship.
Vessels operating in Poland A fire broke out while transporting timber to Italy. “Crews continue to fight the fire,” the U.S. military said.
Britain’s maritime agency said it had also received reports from officers on a second ship about 82 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah port that an explosion had occurred near the ship.
“The ship did not suffer any damage, all crew members are safe and the ship is en route to its next port of call,” the agency said.
Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Sarri said in a televised speech that in addition to the Verbana, they also attacked two other ships, which he identified as the Sea Guardian and the Athena”. His account could not be independently verified.
On Wednesday, a Greek merchant ship, the Tutor, sent a distress call after the Houthis said they targeted the ship with unmanned surface vessels, multiple drones and ballistic missiles.
Central Command said the attack caused severe flooding and cabin damage. The fate of the ship remained unclear Thursday. Central Command said the Houthis’ “continued malicious and reckless behavior” threatened regional stability and endangered the lives of sailors in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The threat posed by the Houthis in the Red Sea makes it more difficult to deliver critical assistance to the people of Yemen and the Gaza Strip, the report added.
