Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked an American ship in the Red Sea for the first time since the United States attacked Houthi naval forces on December 31, the movement's spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday.
"With the help of the Almighty, the naval forces, missile forces and unmanned aircraft of the Yemeni armed forces [Houthis] conducted a joint military operation using a large number of ballistic and anti-ship missiles, drones, striking an American ship that was providing support to the ships of the Zionist entity [Israel]," the spokesman said on air of the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah broadcaster, adding that the operation was the "first response" to the US attack against Houthi naval forces on December 31.
Moreover, a British destroyer operating in the Red Sea alongside US warships repelled what UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps described on Wednesday as the largest attack staged in the region by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
"Overnight, HMS DIAMOND, along with US warships, successfully repelled the largest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date. Deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns, DIAMOND destroyed multiple attack drones heading for her and commercial shipping in the area," he said.
Neither the British ship nor its crew sustained damage or injuries, Shapps added. He condemned "illegal attacks" against commercial shipping in the crucial waterway and threatened Yemeni rebels with consequences.
The US Central Command said overnight that the naval group, which included the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, shot down a barrage of 18 one-way attack drones and three anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis into the southern Red Sea. It estimated that 26 attacks on commercial shipping lanes had been recorded in the region to date.