Yemeni Navy Targets UK-owned Ship in Red Sea

By Al Mayadeen English

1 Feb 2024 22:18

The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson says the Naval operation came in support of the Palestinian people and in response to the American and British aggression on Yemen.

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) targeted a British cargo ship sailing through the Red Sea toward Israeli-occupied Palestinian ports with anti-ship missiles, the spokesperson for the YAF Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced on Thursday night.

The spokesperson said the Naval operation came in support of the Palestinian people and in response to the American and British aggression on Yemen.

"The operations of the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea against Israeli vessels or ships heading to the occupied ports of Palestine will continue until the cessation of aggression and the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip."

The announcement comes less than 24 hours after the spokesperson said that YAF's Navy carried out a top-tier military operation targeting the American cargo ship M/V KOI that was heading to the Israeli-occupied ports of Palestine with several appropriate anti-ship missiles that directly hit the vessel.

He added that the operation took place just hours after the naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted the American destroyer USS Gravely with several anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea, confirming that the strike was direct and accurate.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had earlier claimed that the destroyer shot down an anti-ship missile fired from Yemen toward the Red Sea and that no injuries or damage were reported.

The latest Yemeni announcement nips in the bud CENTCOM's claim and an earlier CNN report that cited four US officials as saying that a Yemeni missile came within one mile of USS Gravely before it was able to shoot it down.

Shortly after, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sanaa confirmed that an ongoing US-British aggression was targeting the coastal Yemeni city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea, west of Yemen.

Our correspondent mentioned that hostile warplanes are flying intensively over the skies of Hodeidah, coinciding with continuous US-British airstrikes targeting the al-Jabbana area north of Hodeidah.

Local Yemeni media reported that hostile warplanes carried out nine airstrikes on Hodeidah, adding that the aggression was still ongoing, and the sound of US planes flying in the city's sky could still be heard.