Sana’a, Mar 18 (EFE).- Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels claimed Tuesday to have attacked a United States aircraft carrier and a destroyer in the Red Sea with cruise missiles and drones in response to the US airstrikes against Yemeni insurgent positions in several cities across the country.
In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said his movement launched “two cruise missiles and two drones against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea for the third time in 48 hours,” as well as attacking a US destroyer in the area with “a cruise missile and four drones.”
Sarea said these launches “threw the enemy into confusion, causing it to withdraw several of its naval assets to the northern Red Sea” and “thwarted an airstrike that was being prepared against our country.”
The US, which has not reacted to the spokesman’s new statements, launched a series of airstrikes Saturday night against various Houthi-controlled cities in northern and central Yemen, as well as the capital, Sana’a.
These bombings, which the insurgents say have left about 50 dead, were ordered by US President Donald Trump to halt the Houthi threat and attacks against international shipping and trade in the Red and Arabian Seas.
The Yemeni rebels, backed by Iran, had announced last week that they would resume military operations in these waterways against Israeli or Israeli-linked ships in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Sarea reiterated that his group “will not cease its attacks against all hostile targets on Red and Arabian Seas until the aggression against our country ceases,” and warned that the Houthis “are prepared to confront any US or Israeli escalation in the coming hours and days.”
The Yemeni insurgent movement has launched hundreds of attacks against Israel, as well as against commercial shipping in the Red and Arabian Seas, since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. EFE
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