U.S. and British forces carry out new joint airstrikes against targets in Yemen, hours after the U.S. military said it had destroyed an anti-ship missile in Yemen following a missile attack on a British oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden did.
Yemen’s Arabic-language television network Al-Masira reported on Saturday that two airstrikes targeted Ras Issa port, Yemen’s main oil export terminal, in the strategic western province of Hodeidah.
Further details were not immediately available.
Earlier, the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement posted on social media platform ”
On Friday night, an oil tanker operating on behalf of the commodity group Trafigura was attacked by a missile after passing through the Red Sea, a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The oil product tanker “Marlin Luanda” was attacked by a missile in the Gulf of Aden. A spokesperson said the ship’s fire extinguishing equipment was being used to extinguish a fire in one of the cargo tanks.
“We are pleased to confirm that all crew members of the Merlin Luanda are safe and that the fire in the cargo tank has been completely extinguished. The ship is currently en route to a safe port,” the UK office said. Trafigura, the company that owns the company, said in its latest information.
The Singapore-based trading company also said the ship was registered in the Marshall Islands.
The Yemeni military later claimed responsibility for the ship, describing it as a “British oil vessel.”
Yemeni forces “used an appropriate number of naval missiles. It was a direct attack and the ship was set on fire,” Yemeni military spokesman Yahya Salih said in a statement.
Since the Gaza regime launched a devastating war after the Palestinian resistance movement in the Gaza Strip launched a surprise retaliatory attack dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity on October 7, Yemeni has declared public support for the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation.
The United States and Britain have carried out attacks on Yemen after the United States and its allies offered unconditional support to the Tel Aviv regime, and the attacks on Israeli-owned ships and commercial vessels heading to the occupied territories have resulted in Yemeni forces said that he owed the debt.
Yemen’s military has said it will not stop its attacks until Israel’s ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip ends. The regime has killed more than 26,000 people in Gaza since October 7.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Ansarullah resistance movement, said: “It is a great honor and blessing to be able to confront the United States directly.”
The attack forced some of the world’s largest shipping and oil companies to suspend shipping through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes. Tankers instead circumnavigate the African continent, bypassing the Suez Canal, adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes.
