Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia on Friday claimed to have attacked a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea in response to airstrikes in areas controlled by the group.
The Houthi military spokesman Yehya Saree said the group had fired missiles at the carrier Eisenhower, and the hit was “precise and direct.”
He added that the United States and Britain had mounted a series of airstrikes in the militia-controlled capital Sana’a, and the provinces of Hodaidah and Taiz.
The strikes left civilian and military casualties, including 16 dead in Hodaidah, the official added in a televised statement.
Earlier Friday, the Houthi-run television al-Masirah reported that the overnight attack in Hodaidah in western Yemen had targeted the provincial radio building and the port of al-Salif, claiming at least 16 civilian lives.
The US army said its forces destroyed eight uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and over the Red Sea on Thursday.
The Central Commanded added in an X post that the US and British forces had also struck 13 Houthi targets, saying the UAVs and sites “presented a threat” to US and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region.
The Houthis, who have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014, have been targeting ships bound for Israeli ports or those owned by Israeli companies in the Red and Arabian seas and Indian Ocean for months, in what they say is retaliation for Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
The militia also attacked US and British ships off Yemen after the two countries began launching strikes on areas under the group’s control.
The US, Britain and other Western countries have launched operations to protect ships in the region.
The European Union has also deployed a military operation to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea, one of the most important shipping routes for world trade, as it connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Major shipping companies have been avoiding the route and sail the much longer journey around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead.
Source Agencies
