AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has claimed responsibility for four attacks on commercial and international ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, including ships bound for Oman.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Tuesday that Houthi forces launched multiple drones loaded with explosives at two US Navy warships in the Red Sea and targeted the merchant ship MSC Orion linked to Israel, with drones in the Indian Ocean.
According to a website that provides information about the ship’s location and identity, the MSC Orion is a Portuguese-flagged container ship bound from Portugal’s Sines port to the Oman’s Salalah port.
Oman is one of the few countries that hosts Houthi officials, and a delegation to promote peace in Yemen is visiting Houthi-controlled Sanaa.
The Houthis also targeted a Cyclades merchant ship that arrived in Israel’s port of Eilat on April 21, saying the ships violated earlier instructions for vessels plying the Red Sea not to go to Israel.
Since November, more than 100 ships transiting the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden have been hit by hundreds of drones and drones launched by the Houthis, who support Palestinians.
In response to the Houthi attacks, the United States organized a coalition of naval special forces and launched airstrikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
The Houthis launched three anti-ship ballistic missiles and three drones from areas under their control at the MV Cyclades on Monday, US Central Command said in a statement. It is said that this ship belongs to Greece and operates under the flag of Malta.
Also on Monday, US Centcom forces destroyed a drone launched by the Houthis against the USS Philippine Sea and Labon in the Red Sea.
