Illustrative image.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) claimed responsibility on June 12 for an attack that left a Greek-owned merchant vessel taking on water near the Yemeni Red Sea port city of al-Hodeidah.
In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Brigade General Yahya Sarea said that the Tutor coal carrier was seriously damaged and vulnerable to sinking after they targeted the vessel with an unmanned surface boat, drones and ballistic missiles.
“The ship was targeted because the company that owned it violated the [Houthis’] decision to ban entry into the ports of occupied Palestine [Israel],” the spokesman added.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a detachment of the Royal Navy, earlier said that the Liberian-flagged Tutor was taking on water and not under command of the crew after sustaining damage in its engine room.
A small craft of white color collided with the cargo ship’s stern and that an “unknown airborne projectile” also struck the vessel, according to UKMTO.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) also confirmed in a statement that the Greek ship was hit by an unmanned surface boat.
“The impact of the [unmanned surface boat] caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room,” the command said of the attack, which was the Houthis’ first to use a boat successfully as a weapon.
In the same statement, CENTCOM announced that its forces intercepted three anti-ship cruise missile launchers in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen and downed a drone that was launched by the group over the Red Sea on June 12
The command also reported that the Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea. However, it said that there were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships.
“This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” the command said.
Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, said that a wave of American and British strikes hit al-Hodeidah city and the western province of Raymah.
A strike targeted the area of al-Jabbanah in the western part of al-Hodeidah, while two others targeted sites in the southern district of al-Tuhayta, according to the news channel, which also reported strikes on a government complex in the Algabin district and a local radio station in Ramyah. Five civilians were wounded in the radio station, including one critically.
In the same statement claiming responsibility for the attack on Tutor, the Houthis said they also carried out two joint military operations with Islamic Resistance in Iraq, targeting sites in Israel’s port cities of Ashdod and Haifa. The latter group confirmed the operations and released footage showing the launch of cruise missiles and drones.
Hebrew media didn’t report any attacks on Ashdod or Haifa. However, this does not mean that the Yemeni-Iraqi joint operation was a failure as the Israeli military has the power to censor news related to security incidents in the country.
Since last November, the Houthis have attacked dozens of vessels affiliated with Israel or owned by the U.S. and the UK in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in response to the Israeli war and siege on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the group launched dozens of drones and missiles at the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat and shot down six American-made combat drones over Yemen and nearby waters.
The U.S. and the UK have carried out hundreds of strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen since January in an attempt to deter the group and degrade its offensive capabilities, but to no avail.
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look online, the jewish depravity freaks are trying to desperately censor the whole web to whitewash their genocide. the jews will be judged as frauds yet again. they are humanity’s black sheeps
inflatable exploding bibi and biden dummies should be put in the seats of the boats as a reminder.
at them relentlessly till the illegal occupants are forced to flee forvtheir pitiful lives. no onevwill have them! and a serious fatwa in the amount of say 25million $$ in gold on netanyahus head will sure as a clucking bell bring him to tehran for apublic hanging broadcastedvacross the world to cheer and laugh at!