Missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels hits container ship in first attack in 2 weeks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said Sunday, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them.

The Houthis offered no explanation for the two-week pause in their attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which have seen similar slowdowns since the assaults began in November over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the resumption comes after 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 rebels separately said they shot down another U.S. spy drone Sunday, later publishing imagery of the aircraft’s wreckage on the side of the mountain.

The attack on Saturday happened some 225 kilometers (140 miles) southeast of Aden in a stretch of the Gulf of Aden that has seen numerous Houthi attacks previously. It hit the container ship Groton just above its waterline, causing minor damage, said the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy. An earlier missile attack missed the vessel, the JMIC said.

“All crew on board are safe,” the center said. “The vessel was reported diverting to a port nearby.”

The Groton had left Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Groton’s Greek managers did not respond to a request for comment.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded statement Sunday afternoon.

The rebels 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 Houthis 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.

In the case of the Groton, JMIC said that the ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel.”

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.

In the time since, there has not been a reported attack on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which links Asia and the Middle East to Europe through the Suez Canal. 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.

Saree also claimed in his statement that the Houthis shot down a U.S MQ-9 spy drone over Saada province. Shortly after the claim, the rebels published footage of the downed aircraft, showing Houthi supporters including children climbing over the wreckage and pointing at what appeared to be missiles the drone had carried.

The U.S. Defense Department said it was aware of the claim and investigating, without elaborating.

Since Yemen’s civil war started in 2014, when the Houthis seized most of the country’s north and its capital, Sanaa, the U.S. military has lost multiple drones to the rebels, while others may have been lost by the CIA. No military identification markings could be seen on the downed drone in the footage.

MQ-9 drones, known as Reapers, cost around $30 million apiece. They can fly at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (about 15,000 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The killing of Haniyeh in Tehran has sparked concerns of a new escalation in the Israel-Hamas war. Already, the U.S. military says it will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and keep an aircraft carrier in the region.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group will enter the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman. Other ships are in the Mediterranean Sea with a Marine detachment if regional evacuations become necessary.

Meanwhile Saturday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said its forces destroyed a Houthi missile and launcher in Yemen.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, sparked the war. In the time since, Israel has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 590 in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say.