On Saturday February 17, the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack against a “British oil tanker” in the Red Sea, reported the day before by security agencies and the US State Department. “Naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces carried out an operation targeting the British tanker Pollux in the Red Sea with a large number of naval missiles »announced their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree.
The British Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO) and the security company specializing in maritime transport Ambrey reported on Friday an explosion near a ship off the town of Mokha. “The ship and its crew are safe”UKMTO had specified while Ambrey reported slight damage.
The US State Department then clarified that a missile launched from Yemen had hit a “Panamanian-flagged vessel en route to India, carrying crude oil”.
“Illegal attacks”
“This is yet another example of illegal attacks on international shipping, which continue after numerous calls to the Houthis to cease their activities”he underlined, announcing the entry into force on Friday of American sanctions against the Houthis, classified in January as a terrorist entity.
These Iranian-backed insurgents have increased attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November, pushing many shipowners to bypass this essential maritime zone for international trade.
They claim to target ships linked to Israel in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with Hamas after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil.
Since January, they have also targeted British and American ships in response to strikes carried out against their positions by the United States and the United Kingdom. The Houthis claimed responsibility for another attack on Thursday “a British ship” in the Gulf of Aden.
On Saturday, they claimed that they “do not hesitate[aient] not to carry out and expand their military operations to defend Yemen and assert [leur] solidarity with the Palestinian people”. Rebels control the capital Sanaa and large swathes of territory in northwestern Yemen, a country in the grip of a civil war since 2014.