(Sanaa) Yemeni Houthi rebels fired missiles at two US ships off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, forcing them to turn back, amid an increase in these attacks and retaliatory strikes from the United States.
This new attack came after strikes by American forces before dawn against Houthi positions in Yemen, where the rebels at war against power since 2014 control vast territories.
According to a White House spokesman in Washington, John Kirby, the rebels fired “three missiles against two ships” of the American subsidiary of the Danish shipping giant Maersk, two of which were intercepted by an American military ship and one missed its target.
He warned that the United States would continue to “do what is necessary to protect” shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, located off the coast of poor Yemen. Arabian Peninsula.
Maersk confirmed that two boats from its American subsidiary which were transiting the strait on their way to the Red Sea had turned back after explosions nearby.
The Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake were being escorted by the US Navy when they heard the explosions, the company said in a statement, adding that the cargo and crew were not affected.
“The US Navy has turned the two ships around and is escorting them to the Gulf of Aden,” added the Danish giant.
The British maritime safety agency (UKMTO) also reported an “explosion approximately 100 meters” from a ship, 50 miles south of the Yemeni port of Mokha (south).
“Protect” maritime traffic
In a press release on X, the Houthis, close to Iran, sworn enemy of the United States, claimed responsibility for the attack.
They reported a “clash with US warships which were protecting two US commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab”, claiming to have “targeted a warship with ballistic missiles “.
In New York, the UN announced that the Houthis had given the United Nations one month for its British and American employees to leave areas under their control in Yemen, after strikes carried out in Washington and London on rebel positions.
Since November, the Houthis have said they are targeting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that they consider linked to Israel, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza, in the grip of the war between the Israeli army and the movement. Islamist Hamas.
About 12% of global maritime trade normally passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which controls access to the southern Red Sea, but since the Houthi attacks began, the number of containers has fallen by 70%, according to maritime experts.
Faced with an increase in attacks, the Americans, sometimes with their British ally, have launched strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen since the beginning of January in order to “protect” maritime traffic from attacks by Houthis close to Iran.
Before dawn on Wednesday, U.S. forces “struck two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed toward the southern Red Sea and were ready to be fired,” according to the U.S. Middle East Military Command (CENTCOM).
Gas deliveries under threat
The rebels have threatened to retaliate for each US strike, raising fears of a dangerous escalation.
The Houthis are part of what Iran presents as the “axis of resistance” against Israel which brings together groups in the region such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and other factions in Iraq and Syria.
In Doha, the national company QatarEnergy said its deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) could be delayed by the increase in Houthi attacks.
In mid-January, Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, whose country is one of the world’s largest LNG producers, called the attacks in the Red Sea “the most dangerous escalation” in the region due to the impact on global trade.