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The Houthis (Ansar Allah) announced late on January 24 that they damaged a United States warship and forced two American commercial vessels to retreat after a two-hour missile engagement in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait.
“In solidarity with the Palestinian people and in response to the American-British aggression on our country, clashes occurred with a number of American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait,” Houthi military spokesman Brigade General Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
The spokesman said that the engagement occurred while the ships were providing protection for two American commercial vessels and lasted for more than two hours.
Brig. Gen. Saree confirmed that Houthi missiles scored a direct hit on an American warship, forcing the two commercial vessels to “retreat from entering the Red Sea.”
He said that “a number of ballistic missiles of the group reached their targets, despite attempts to intercept them by warships, and the armed forces used several ballistic missiles in the engagement.”
The spokesman added that the Houthis will “continue to prevent Israeli navigation or ships heading to the occupied Palestinian ports in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until the cessation of aggression [by Israel] and lifting of the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
He also stressed that the group is “taking all necessary military measures within the legitimate right of defending our country, people and nation, targeting all American and British hostile targets in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.”
A few hours before the release of the statement, the U.S. Central Command said that the Houthis fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles at an American-owned container ship, the M/V Maersk Detroit. According to the command, two of the missiles were intercepted by U.S. warships, while the third missed its target.
The Danish shipping giant Maersk said that the M/V Maersk Detroit and another American-owned ship, the M/V Maersk Chesapeake, were attacked while transiting the Bab al-Mandab.
Neither ships were harmed in the attack, the company said in a statement, revealing that both were carrying cargo belonging to the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies. The company also announced that it had suspended the operations of U.S.-owned ships in the Red Sea and nearby waters.
The Iranian-backed Houthis began targeting ships linked to Israel in response to the war on Gaza last November. Earlier this month, they expanded their operations to include U.S.-owned vessels in response to attacks by the U.S. and allies on Yemen.
With no end in sight for the Israeli war in Gaza, the crisis in the Red Sea could soon escalate into a full-blown war between the U.S. and the Houthis.
