Houthis claim major missile, drone attack in Red Sea

AFP | Sanaa, Yemen                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Yemen ’s Iran - back d Houthi rebels yesterday claimed responsibility for a large-scale drone and missile attack in the Red Sea described as the biggest yet in the international shipping corridor.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said a “large number” of missiles and drones targeted a US ship that was “providing support” to Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza.

“The naval forces, the missile force, and the unmanned air force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a joint military operation with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones,” he said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Earlier yesterday, the US military said American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles launched by the Houthis towards shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

Saree did not give a timing or a location for the attack but a Houthi leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was the same incident.

Separately, Tawfiq Al-Humairi, adviser to the Huthis’ Ministry of Information, told AFP that “this attack is considered the largest carried out by the Yemeni armed forces” since the start of their Red Sea campaign against vessels they consider linked to Israel.

In a statement, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps also said it was the “largest attack... to date” by the Huthis in the Red Sea.