Yemen: Houthi militants attack US fuel tanker in Gulf of Aden

The Houthis of Yemen targeted the oil tanker MV Torm Thor, which was owned, operated, and flagged by the United States, in the Gulf of Aden, according to military spokesman Yahya Sarea of the Iran-aligned group on Sunday.

The militants are continuing to attack shipping lanes in Gaza in support of the Palestinian people, and they used “a number of appropriate naval missiles” to hit the tanker, Sarea said in a televised speech. The USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, shot down one anti-ship ballistic missile on Saturday, which was likely aimed at the tanker.

CENTCOM stated in a statement that there were no injuries and that neither the USS Mason nor the MV Torm Thor sustained any damage.

Since November 19, the Houthis, who govern the most populated areas of Yemen, have protested Israel’s military actions in Gaza by firing rockets and drones at commercial vessels.

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The United States and the United Kingdom have branded the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization and begun attacking Houthi sites in Yemen.

There has been some spillover of the unrest from Israel’s fight against Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist organization, onto other regions of the Middle East. In addition to the Houthi strikes on crucial maritime routes, pro-Iranian Iraqi militia have attacked bases that house American personnel, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, backed by Iran, has engaged Israel in gunfire along the Israel-Lebanon border.

(With agency inputs)