Current:Home > Contact-usYemen’s Houthi rebels launch drone and missile attack on Red Sea shipping, though no damage reported-LoTradeCoin
Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch drone and missile attack on Red Sea shipping, though no damage reported
View Date:2024-12-23 15:09:08
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a barrage of drones and missiles targeting ships in the Red Sea late Tuesday, though the U.S. said Wednesday that no damage was reported.
The assault happened off the Yemeni port cities of Hodeida and Mokha, according to the private intelligence firm Ambrey. In the Hodeida incident, Ambrey said ships described over radio seeing missiles and drones, with U.S.-allied warships in the area urging “vessels to proceed at maximum speed.”
Off Mokha, ships saw missiles fired, a drone in the air and small vessels trailing them, Ambrey said early Wednesday.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said the “complex attack” launched by the Houthis included bomb-carrying drones, cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile.
It said 18 drones, two cruise missiles and the anti-ship missile were downed by F-18s from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as by other American ships and one British warship.
“This is the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity,” the British military’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations said after the Hodeida attack.
The Houthis, a Shiite group that’s held Yemen’s capital since 2014, did not formally acknowledge launching the attacks. However, the pan-Arab satellite news network Al Jazeera quoted an anonymous Houthi military official saying their forces “targeted a ship linked to Israel in the Red Sea,” without elaborating.
The Houthis say their attacks aim to end the pounding Israeli air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip amid that country’s war on Hamas. However, the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.
The attacks have targeted ships in the Red Sea, which links the Mideast and Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal, and its narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait. That strait is only 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nearly 10% of all oil traded at sea passes through it. An estimated $1 trillion in goods pass through the strait annually.
A U.S-led coalition of nations has been patrolling the Red Sea to try and prevent the attacks. American troops in one incident sank Houthi vessels and killed 10 rebel fighters, though there’s been no broad retaliatory strike yet despite warnings from the U.S.
Meanwhile, a separate, tentative cease-fire between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government has held for months despite that country’s long war. That’s raised concerns that any wider conflict in the sea — or a potential reprisal strike from Western forces — could reignite those tensions in the Arab world’s poorest nation.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Worker trapped under rubble after construction accident in Kentucky
- The 50 Most Popular Amazon Items E! Readers Bought This Month: Viral Beauty, Kyle Richards' Picks & More
- Alex Rodriguez's bid to become majority owner of Timberwolves falls through. Here's why
- Stock market today: Asian shares meander after S&P 500 sets another record
- Republican Vos reelected as Wisconsin Assembly speaker despite losing seats, fights with Trump
- Two women injured in shooting at Virginia day care center, police say
- The Daily Money: When retirement is not a choice
- Truth Social’s stock price is soaring. It’s not just Trump supporters buying in.
- Too Hot to Handle’s Francesca Farago Gives Birth, Welcomes Twins With Jesse Sullivan
- Judge forges ahead with pretrial motions in Georgia election interference case
Ranking
- How Jersey Shore's Sammi Sweetheart Giancola's Fiancé Justin May Supports Her on IVF Journey
- Upgrade Your Meals with These Tasty Celebrity Cookbooks, from Tiffani Thiessen to Kristin Cavallari
- Authorizing sports betting in Georgia may lack needed votes from lawmakers
- Vulnerable veteran with dementia dies after body slam by Birmingham officer
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- Vulnerable veteran with dementia dies after body slam by Birmingham officer
- Alessandro Michele named new creative director of Valentino after Gucci departure
- Barges are bringing cranes to Baltimore to help remove bridge wreckage and open shipping route
Recommendation
-
Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
-
College basketball coaches March Madness bonuses earned: Rick Barnes already at $1 million
-
Baltimore bridge collapse and coping with gephyrophobia. The fear is more common than you think.
-
US economic growth for last quarter is revised up slightly to a healthy 3.4% annual rate
-
Bodyless head washes ashore on a South Florida beach
-
Two bodies recovered from vehicle underwater at Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site
-
Earth is spinning faster than it used to. Clocks might have to skip a second to keep up.
-
Two bodies recovered from vehicle underwater at Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site