Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for two attacks in the Red Sea – but US authorities refute claim about aircraft carriers | World news

The group claims that one of its attacks was directed at the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower – but US authorities have denied this claim, Reuters reports. The ship is reportedly already on its way back to the US after an eight-month deployment.

Yemen’s Houthi fighters say they have attacked two more ships in the Red Sea, but US authorities say one of these claims is false.

The group targeted a merchant ship that was transiting the Gulf of Aden – a stretch of water that Red Sea and the Arabian Sea – late Friday.

The captain of the ship Transworld Navigator saw “explosions near the ship,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

The US-monitored Joint Maritime Information Centre added that the ship initially reported three explosions nearby but “was not hit and sustained no damage”.

“The ship and crew are reportedly safe and proceeding to their next port of call,” it said.

The Houthis, the YemenIS, which has been based in the capital Sanaa since 2014, claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday evening and said that a US aircraft carrier, the Eisenhower, was also targeted, but provided no evidence of this.

Two US officials told Reuters the claim was false.

“That is wrong,” said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the US Naval Institute intelligence service, American authorities had already ordered the Eisenhower to return to American waters, thus ending its eight-month voyage.

During her deployment in the Red Sea, where the Eisenhower experienced the heaviest fighting since World War II, she was repeatedly the subject of false claims of attack, the U.S. Navy said.

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It is expected that another US aircraft carrier currently operating in the Pacific will take its place.

The Houthis have carried out more than 60 attacks in the Red Sea since last Octoberand have captured one ship and sunk two – including the Greek-owned Tutor, which was sunk last week.

They say they have attacked ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain because of the war in Gaza, but many of those attacked have little or no connection to the War between Israel and Hamas.

In response, the US and UK began air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in January. According to the Houthis, at least 16 people were killed and 42 others injured in an attack on May 30.