Yemen Houthis target ‘Contship Ono’ ship, two US destroyers

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Wednesday that it had targeted a ship identified as the “Contship Ono” in the Red Sea as well as two US destroyers in the adjacent Gulf of Aden, Reuters reports.

The Houthi air force targeted US destroyer, “Cole”, with a number of drones and the US destroyer, “Laboon” with a number of ballistic missiles, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree said.

The Liberia-flagged container ship, “Contship Ono” was targeted with ballistic missiles and drones in the Red Sea, Saree added.

The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.

This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Palestine war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.

The frequency of the attacks, however, appeared to have decreased after Israel hit military targets near Yemen’s Hudaydah port on 20 July, killing six people and wounding more than 80, a day after a drone launched by the group hit Israeli economic hub, Tel Aviv.

On 4 August, the Yemeni group claimed the first attack on shipping lanes in two weeks since the Israeli attack by targeting the Liberia-flagged container vessel, “MV Groton” in the Gulf of Aden.

READ: Response to Israel escalation will come not just from Iran, Houthis say