Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday claimed a missile attack which hit an Antigua- and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, The Associated Press reported. The missile hit the ship's forward station late Saturday, starting a fire that those on board later put out, the private security firm Ambrey said. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people “on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident,” Ambrey added, though no one was hurt onboard. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported the attack and fire in the same area off Aden, saying “damage control is underway." Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a prerecorded video message Sunday, saying the vessel had been targeted with both missiles and drones. He identified the vessel as the Norderney, a ship that tracking data analyzed by AP showed was still in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday afternoon. The Houthis have upped their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a show of support for Palestinian Arabs. In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition , made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis. In mid-January, with support from other countries, the US and Britain targeted just under 30 Houthi locations with 150 different weapons. They have since carried out several rounds of strikes against Houthi targets. The Houthis have been unfazed by the strikes, saying that the campaign against the "Zionist enemy" will continue and that the attacks against the American and British ships will not stop. Related articles: US transfers THAAD missile defense system to Israel UAV approaching Israeli territory intercepted by the IAF Iran pulling forces from Yemen amid heightened US pressure US targets Russia network aiding Houthis with arms, grain On Wednesday, the Houthis published a video showing what they claimed was a Palestine-type ballistic missile that was launched towards Eilat this week and which was intercepted by the Arrow system. A day later, the leader of the group, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, threatened to intensify the Houthis’ operations against Israel, carried out with the group Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
