The Red Sea and its surroundings remain under tension. “According to our information, a merchant ship was targeted by a “missile” while it was crossing (…) off the coast of Aden, Yemen »announced Thursday, January 31, the British maritime security company Ambrey. “The ship reported an explosion” on board adds the firm. “Ambrey learned that this missile had been fired (…) from Taiz »a province in southern Yemen.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed to have fired missiles at a US ship, which they identified as the Kol, en route according to them to an Israeli port. Yahya Saree, the rebel spokesperson, claimed on social media that the missiles “directly hit the ship” in the Gulf of Aden.
The US military did not confirm damage to an American ship but said in a statement that it had destroyed, on Wednesday, a Houthi surface-to-air missile, ready to be fired from Yemen and deemed potentially threatening to aircraft. Americans. Before taking action, American forces determined that this surface-to-air missile “presented an imminent threat” for its planes, justified Centcom, the United States military command for the Middle East.
The American army did not specify what type of aircraft, civil or military, could have been targeted by the Houthis who, in recent weeks, have mainly been talked about for attacks targeting ships at sea.
Thirty-five Houthi attacks on ships
These rebels, who control large swaths of Yemeni territory, have carried out more than 35 attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19, according to the Pentagon, disrupting maritime traffic in this essential area for the International trade. These insurgents close to Iran say they want to prevent ships linked to Israel from sailing off Yemen, “in solidarity” with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, prey to the war between Israel and Hamas since October 7.
These attacks have prompted some shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, through which around 12% of world trade normally passes, by bypassing Africa.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, deployed warships to the Red Sea and carried out several strikes in January against rebel positions, sometimes jointly with the United Kingdom.