DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship Thursday in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, authorities said.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the assault, though it follows a monthslong campaign by the rebels targeting shipping through the Red Sea corridor over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After a recent two-week pause, their attacks have resumed following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, amid renewed concerns over the war breaking out into a regional conflict.
The attack saw a rocket-propelled grenade explode close to the ship, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Two smaller craft, with men aboard wearing white and yellow raincoats, launched the RPG, the UKMTO said.
“The vessel and crew are reported to be safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call,” the center added. “Authorities are investigating.”
The Houthis sometimes take hours or even days to acknowledge their attacks, while claiming others that apparently haven’t happened.
The Houthis have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the time since. Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or splashed down before reaching their targets.
The rebels maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign they say seeks to force an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war — including some bound for Iran.
Since November, Houthi attacks have disrupted the $1 trillion flow of goods passing through the region annually while also sparking the most intense combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II.
The Houthis also have launched drones and missiles toward Israel, including an attack on July 19 that killed one person and wounded 10 others in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida that hit fuel depots and electrical stations, killing and wounding a number of people, the rebels say.
After the strikes, the Houthis paused their attacks until Saturday, when they hit a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile on Thursday, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets arrived in the Mideast from a base in the United Kingdom, authorities said Thursday.
U.S. Central Command posted images online of the fighters, saying their presence in the region was “to address threats posed by Iran and Iranian-backed groups.”
The U.S. has declined to say where the aircraft landned due to host nation sensitivities.
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