Yemen’s Houthis attacked three ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean

YEMEN: A military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi group has announced that the group carried out attacks on three ships in the Red Sea And Indian Ocean.

“The first (attack) targeted the American ship Larego Desert in the Indian Ocean, the second targeted the Israeli ship (MSC Mechela) in the Indian Ocean. The third attack targeted the ship (Minerva Lisa) in the Red Sea”, Yahya Sarea said a statement on Monday from the Houthi-run television station al-Masirah.

Sarea said his group also carried out drone attacks against “two US warships in the Red Sea, and the hits were precise,” and vowed to continue the attacks until Israel ends its war in the Gaza Strip.

No public information could be found on the first two ships, but several vessel traffic trackers showed that a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, Largo Desert, was active in the area en route from Durban, South Africa, to Beira, Mozambique, Xinhua news agency reported.

Online tracker Marine Traffic showed that the crude oil tanker Minerva Lisa was in the Red Sea earlier in the day.

On Friday, the Houthi group claimed it launched a missile attack on the Israeli ship Essex in the Mediterranean Sea.

To show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthis began firing anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones at allegedly Israeli-linked vessels transiting the Red Sea last November. In response, the US-UK naval coalition based in Red Sea waters has launched airstrikes and missile attacks on Houthis’ targets in Yemen since January in an attempt to deter the group, but this only led to an escalation of Houthis’ attacks on US and UK merchant and warships.