✕CloseAerial footage shows moment RAF Typhoon strikes Yemen military target
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have struck a US-owned cargo vessel with an anti-ship ballistic missile off the coast of Yemen.
The attack involved three missiles, one of which struck the Gibraltar Eagle and caused a fire. There were no reports of injuries, US Central Command said.
The ship’s operator Eagle Bulk said that “as a result of the impact, the vessel suffered limited damage to a cargo hold but is stable and is heading out of the area”.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a recorded television address, vowing to target all American and British ships.
Authorities have issued a warning to other boats in the Red Sea region.
It came after US fighter aircraft intercepted and destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen towards the USS Laboon destroyer in the Red Sea.
The incident occurred off the coast of Hodeidah, a port city in the west of Yemen whose international airport was targeted in joint US-UK airstrikes last week.
Recommended
- A timeline of the Houthi attacks that led to US and UK airstrikes
- UK to deploy 20,000 troops alongside Nato allies in major show of strength
- Sunak says there is ‘no evidence of civilian casualties’ after UK strikes on Houthi forces in Yemen
- Mapped: How the US and UK attacks on Houthi rebels took place and what weapons were used?
Show latest update
UKMTO reports incident offshore Eritrea's Assab, authorities investigating
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization early on Tuesday received a report of a small craft circling a vessel in the Red Sea about 57 nautical miles northwest of Eritrea’s Assab.
Vessel and crew were reported safe and are proceeding to their next port after security personnel on the ship “fired warning shots and small craft departed,” UKMTO said in an advisory note.
Yemen‘s Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. Various shipping lines have suspended operations, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.
The Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.
Tom Watling16 January 2024 08:271705391274
Who are Yemen’s Houthis? The Iran-backed rebels attacking ships in the Red Sea
Tensions in the Middle East have risen after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels began striking at ships passing through the Red Sea in December.
The Islamist group claims it began striking a narrow strip of sea between Yemen and east Africa, which is a key international trade route, in a bid to end Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas.
In retaliation, Britain and the US launched air strikes across Yemen against Houthi forces. President Joe Biden called the strikes a “direct response” to an onslaught of attacks on Red Sea ships which “jeopardised trade, and threatened freedom of navigation”.
Mr Sunak said the action was “necessary and proportionate”.
Who are Yemen’s Houthis? The Iran-backed rebels attacking ships in the Red Sea
Yemen’s Shia Houthis are part of Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ dedicated to the destruction of Israel
Tom Watling16 January 2024 07:471705389649
A timeline of the Houthi attacks that led to US and UK airstrikes
US and British forces launched airstrikes against dozens of targets across Yemen on January 11 in retaliation for months of attacks by the country’s Houthi movement on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.
Those attacks, launched by the Iran-backed group in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, have wrought havoc on international shipping and drawn the US and its allies into a regional conflict.
The Pentagon said 60 targets were hit using more than 150 precision-guided munitions.
A timeline of the Houthi attacks that led to US and UK airstrikes
The US and Britain launched airstrikes against dozens of targets in response to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea
Tom Watling16 January 2024 07:201705386300
Will the clash with the Houthi rebels lead to global conflict?
Would the US and the UK be prepared to put boots on the ground in Yemen (as Boris Johnson proposed)?
Will a prolonged air campaign be enough to paralyse the Iran-backed Houthis? T
here are many difficult questions left to answer over the Middle East’s latest hotspot, warns Kim Sengupta.
Will the clash with the Houthi rebels lead to global conflict?
Would the US and the UK be prepared to put boots on the ground in Yemen (as Boris Johnson proposed)? Will a prolonged air campaign be enough to paralyse the Iran-backed Houthis? There are many difficult questions left to answer over the Middle East’s latest hotspot, warns Kim Sengupta
Barney Davis16 January 2024 06:251705385801
Houthi rebels vow to expand attacks on US and UK vessels in Red Sea
The Yemeni Houthi movement will expand its targets to include US ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday.
“The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it; it is enough for it to be American,” Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesperson for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera.
“The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security.”
Mr Amer also said British and American ships had become “legitimate targets” due to the strikes launched by the two countries on Yemen last week.
Attacks on ships since October by the Houthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, have hit commerce and alarmed major powers in a regional escalation of Israel’s more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
Shweta Sharma16 January 2024 06:161705382820
Hizb ut-Tahrir should be branded terrorist organisation – Home Sec
The international Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir should be banned as a terrorist organisation, the Home Secretary said, as he branded it “antisemitic” and warned it “promotes and encourages terrorism”.
James Cleverly’s proposal will be debated in Parliament this week and, if approved, the ban would come into force on Friday making Hizb ut-Tahrir the 80th organisation to be proscribed in the UK.
Founded in 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a pan-Islamic fundamentalist group which has been banned in several Arab and Asian countries, including China, as well as in Germany. Austria banned symbols of the group in 2021.
With headquarters in Lebanon, the group also operates in at least 32 countries including the UK, United States, Canada and Australia, with a “long-term goal of establishing a Caliphate ruled under Islamic law”, the Home Office said.
Mr Cleverly said: “Hizb ut-Tahrir is an antisemitic organisation that actively promotes and encourages terrorism, including praising and celebrating the appalling October 7 attacks.
“Proscribing this terrorist group will ensure that anyone who belongs to and invites supports for them will face consequences. It will curb Hizb ut-Tahrir’s ability to operate as it currently does.”
The group had described Hamas as “heroes” – which “constitutes promoting and encouraging terrorism” – and has a “history of praising and celebrating attacks against Israel and attacks against Jews more widely”, the Home Office said.
Footage showed several men shouting ‘jihad’ at the march organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir
(screengrab)
Barney Davis16 January 2024 05:271705379220
Houthis say UK and US ships legitimate targets after strikes
Houthi rebels said they would expand their targets to include US and British ships as an anti-ship ballistic missile struck a US container ship about 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden, the US military confirmed.
The attack on the Gibraltar Eagle, later claimed by the Houthis, further escalates tensions gripping the Red Sea after American-led strikes on the rebels.
British and American ships had become “legitimate targets”, Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera on Monday evening.
“The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it, it is enough for it to be American,” said Mr Amer.
“The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security.”
The Houthis have previously said they would only target Israeli ships or those en route to Israel.
Houthi fighters and tribesmen stage a rally against the U.S. and the U.K. strikes on Houthi-run military sites near Sanaa
(AP)
Barney Davis16 January 2024 04:271705377944
UK’s maritime agency reports incident off Eritrea's Assab
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation has advised vessels to transit with caution after a vessel reported being encircled in the Red Sea earlier today.
A small craft circled a vessel in the Red Sea about 57 nautical miles northwest of Eritrea’s Assab, forcing the ship to fire warning shots.
The vessel and crew were reported safe and are proceeding to their next port after security personnel on the ship “fired warning shots and small craft departed,” UKMTO said in an advisory note.
Shweta Sharma16 January 2024 04:051705375620
ICYMI: John Rentoul: Will war in the Middle East cast a shadow over a Starmer government?
The shadow cabinet is more deeply divided than it appears. Labour is still subject to less media scrutiny than the Conservatives, despite the widespread assumption that Keir Starmer will become prime minister this year.
Most Labour MPs are also more disciplined than most Tory MPs because they can feel election victory within their grasp, whereas the Tories are either fed up or have given up, and so are happier to be rude about each other in private and in public.
As ever in politics, Labour’s divisions are a mixture of the personal and the ideological, and foreign policy is one of the hidden fractures threatening the foundations of an incoming government.
Will war in the Middle East cast a shadow over a Starmer government? | John Rentoul
Airstrikes in Yemen and conflict in Gaza inflame the same issues as the Iraq war, Labour’s most painful wound
Barney Davis16 January 2024 03:271705375534
US-led strike on houthis ‘one more terrible consequence’ of Gaza war, UN aid chief says
United Nations’ aid chief Martin Griffiths said that US-led strikes in Yemen are a “serious consequence” of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Mr Griffths said he is not blaming any side but it is disappointing to see the prospect of peace in Yemen “snatched away” from people, according to CNN.
“But it’s one more terrible consequence. And it is a really serious consequence of the war in Gaza,” he said.
Shweta Sharma16 January 2024 03:25NewerOlder✕
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log in
Popular videos
{{/link}}