Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack 2 more ships in Mideast waters

Tel Aviv: Two ships, including one heading to India from the US, travelling in Middle East waters were attacked by suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drones early on Tuesday, authorities said, the latest assaults in the Iranian-backed fighters’ campaign of targeting vessels over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The first attack happened in the southern part of the Red Sea, west of the Yemeni port of Hodeida, with the projectile causing “slight damage” to the vessel’s windows on the bridge, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added.

The private security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship. No one was hurt onboard the vessel, which suffered “minor damage,” the firm said. A second ship came under attack later Tuesday off Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, the UKMTO reported. Ambrey identified it as a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned vessel coming from the US heading to India.