The Iranian-backed militant group, the Houthi rebels are claiming to have fired at a United States warship in the Gulf of Aden. A spokesperson for the Yemen-based group said that this incident was in response to the U.S. attacks and recent “aggression” in the region.
The attack, targeting the USS Lewis B. Puller expeditionary mobile base vessel, took place on Sunday evening, Yahya Saree said in a Telegram post in the aftermath of the alleged incident. The spokesman did not specify if the missile had hit the vessel.
FILE PHOTO: USS Lewis B. Puller expeditionary mobile base vessel © Wikipedia / US Navy
The US military has yet to officially comment on the alleged attack. However, an unnamed American defense official told the Associated Press that there have been no reports of the USS Lewis B. Puller being targeted.
Since mid-October, after Hamas attacked Israel igniting another Middle East war, the Houthis have launched multiple drones and missiles targeting Israeli-bound vessels off the coast of Yemen, disrupting shipping along key routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Shell Becomes Latest To Suspend Red Sea Shipments After Two Fresh Houthi Attacks On Tankers
The US and the United Kingdom subsequently launched airstrikes against the group to reduce its ability to strike ships. However, they thus far appear to have been unable to prevent Houthi attacks. These tit-for-tat attacks are not likely to end any time soon.
US & UK Announce MORE STRIKES On Houthi Rebels In Yemen
Houthi Missile Strikes A U.S. Ship In The Gulf of Aden
On Sunday, the United Nations said that freight through the Suez Canal had plummeted by 45% in the past two months amid Houthi attacks and retaliatory airstrikes by the United States and United Kingdom.
“We are very concerned,” Jan Hoffmann, chief of trade logistics at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told reporters. “We are seeing delays, higher costs, higher greenhouse gas emissions,” he said according to a report by RT.
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