SANAA (Yemen): Yemen’s Houthi group said late Wednesday that it hit an American warship and forced two American commercial vessels to retreat after clashes with its forces in the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandab Strait.
“In solidarity with the Palestinian people and in response to the American-British aggression on our country, clashes occurred with a number of American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandab Strait,” Anadolu Agency reported Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised statement.
He said the clashes occurred while the ships were providing protection for two American commercial vessels and lasted for more than two hours.
It reported Saree confirmed that Houthi missiles scored a direct hit on an American warship, forcing the two commercial vessels to “retreat from entering the Red Sea”.
He pointed out that “a number of ballistic missiles of the group reached their targets, despite attempts to intercept them by warships, and the armed forces (loyal to the Houthis) used several ballistic missiles in the engagement.”
He added that the group’s armed forces will “continue to prevent Israeli navigation or ships heading to the occupied Palestinian ports in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until the cessation of aggression (by Israel) and lifting of the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
There was no immediate response from the American side, but the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced earlier Wednesday that the Houthi group targeted an American ship in the Gulf of Aden with three missiles, two of which were intercepted, while the third fell into the sea without causing injuries, according to Anadolu.–Bernama-AA
