The MV Andromeda Star suffers damage and the MQ-9 Reaper drone is shot down during the latest Houthi escalation.
Yemen’s Houthis have damaged an oil tanker and shot down another US MQ-9 Reaper drone as they vow further attacks in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Iran-aligned group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in his latest televised video address on Saturday that the “British oil ship Andromeda Star” was targeted in the Red Sea by naval missiles and was directly hit .
The US military confirmed that the group fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea at several targets and damaged the MV Andromeda Star. The ship was recently sold to a company registered in Seychelles, Reuters reported.
“MV Andromeda Star reports minor damage, but continues its journey,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a message on X, adding that no injuries or damage were reported by the maritime military coalition led by the United States and deployed in the country. the area to counter attacks from Yemen.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson also said its air defense forces in Yemen also shot down a US military MQ-9 Reaper attack drone with a missile in the airspace of Saada governorate “while ‘he was carrying out hostile missions’.
The US military has not commented on the drone, but US broadcaster CBS News confirmed that an MQ-9, which cost around $30 million, “crashed” in Yemen on Friday morning and said an investigation was underway.
This is the third US attack drone shot down by the Houthis since the start of the war on Gaza, the first being shot down in November, followed by another in February.
The Yemeni group has not commented on further attacks on ships in its neighboring waterways, but the U.S. military said anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis also targeted the MV MAISHA, an Antigua-flagged vessel /Barbados and operated by Liberia. He reported no damage.
UK Maritime Commercial Operations (UKMTO) also confirmed two attacks on a vessel – believed to be the MV Andromeda Star – approximately 14 nautical miles (26 km) southwest of al-Mukha (Mocha), in Yemen.
It said a first explosion occurred “in close proximity” to the ship and a second attack, consisting of what appeared to be two missiles, damaged the ship.
The Houthi army announced on Friday that it had targeted the “Israeli ship MSC Darwin” in the Gulf of Aden, adding that it had launched a number of missiles and drones at targets in the port city of Eilat, in the southern Israel.
On Thursday, the group launched an attack on the Maersk Yorktown, a US-flagged, US-owned and operated ship, as well as the Israel-linked MSC Veracruz, defended by US and British warships. .
The Yemeni group’s resumption of military activity comes after weeks of relative calm when the number of attacks had declined.
في اليوم الثالث بعد المائتين مليونية متجددة ملأت حشودُها ميدانَ سبعين العاصمة صنعاء واسنادا لغ زة في مسيرة” تنفار” pic.twitter.com/DgRfdS2SfW
– محمد عبدالسلام (@abdusalamsalah) April 26, 2024
Translation: On the third day after 200 days of war, new crowds filled al-Sabeen Square in the capital Sanaa in a show of loyalty and support for Gaza during a “With Gaza, Pride and Mobilization” march.
But the group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, rejected in a speech Friday the idea that the decline in attacks was linked to weakening military capabilities and vowed that more attacks would take place.
He also told large numbers of protesters in the capital, Sanaa, and elsewhere in a televised address that “a new theater of confrontation” had opened as the Houthis now also target shipping in the Indian Ocean.
The Houthis say they will end attacks on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, demanding that Israel end its war on Gaza. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global trade and affected traffic in the Israeli port of Eilat.
Residents of areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis have demonstrated in large numbers every Friday since the start of the war to express solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israel and its Western allies.
The Houthis initially targeted only Israel-linked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, but expanded their action to US and British ships after Washington and London carried out attacks on Yemen.
Houthi-run media reported that “millions” of others also took to the streets in Yemen’s governorates on Friday.
