Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed responsibility early Friday for strikes against an American ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden, a new attack by this Iran-backed group against merchant ships in “solidarity” with Gaza.
“The naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces (the name given to the armed wing of the Houthis, Editor’s note) carried out a targeted operation against an American ship, the Chem Ranger, in the Gulf of Aden with several anti-ship missiles, several of which hit their target,” they said in a statement.
“A response to American and British attacks is inevitable, any further aggression will be punished,” said the Yemeni rebels, saying they only target ships going to Israel “as long as there is no ceasefire and the siege will not be lifted on Gaza.”
According to the specialist site Marine Traffic, the Chem Ranger is an oil tanker flying the flag of the Marshall Islands which has been off the coast of Yemen in recent days.
For its part, the British Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO) reported an incident 115 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni city of Aden with an explosion 30 meters from a ship.
“Coalition forces are responding, the crew is safe and the ship is heading to the next port,” said the British agency, which also reported four unidentified drones flying around a merchant ship further away. ballast.
American strikes
The United States struck Houthi sites in Yemen for the fifth time on Thursday, in response to attacks by the Iran-backed group on merchant ships in the Red Sea, a crucial area for international trade.
More specifically, Washington said it struck Houthi missiles. “We believe they were ready for imminent launch into the Red Sea,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
The deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, Sabrina Singh, said that these bombings, which began at the end of last week and sometimes carried out with the United Kingdom, could have “destroyed a significant part of the capabilities” of the Houthis.
In Moscow, however, the Russian Foreign Minister called on the United States to stop its “aggression” against Yemen. “The more the Americans and the British bomb, the less the Houthis will want to talk,” Sergei Lavrov said.
Thursday’s American bombings were the second in less than 24 hours on missiles from the Houthis, a group placed on one of its lists of “terrorist organizations” by Washington on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden declared this week that these strikes would continue as long as the Houthis disrupt international maritime trade off the coast of Yemen.
Denmark enters the scene
This Iranian-backed group has attacked dozens of merchant ships it considers “linked to Israel” in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
These attacks, which they say they are carrying out in “solidarity” with the population of this Palestinian territory under the control of their Hamas allies and ravaged by war, have forced many shipowners to suspend the passage of their fleets through the Red Sea for the reroute around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, increasing the time and cost of shipping.
Faced with these attacks, the United States set up a coalition to patrol off the coast of Yemen and protect maritime traffic.
Not all countries in this coalition are participating in the strikes, but Denmark, home of the number two global shipping company Maersk, announced Thursday that it would join. France has decided not to participate “to avoid any escalation” in the region, according to its president Emmanuel Macron.