Iran-backed Houthi rebels attack merchant ship in Gulf of Aden

The Houthi group has intensified its campaign against international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which they say is in solidarity with Palestinians amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed on Saturday that they had launched an attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden. According to a statement by Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree, the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted the vessel "GROTON" in what is now the second attack on the ship since August 3. The Houthi group has intensified its campaign against international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which they say is in solidarity with Palestinians amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Earlier that day, the Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC), part of a Western naval coalition, reported that the Groton was targeted by two ballistic missiles while it was 130 nautical miles east of Aden. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, managed by Britain's Royal Navy, confirmed that the crew was safe and that the Groton was continuing to its next destination.

The Houthi attacks, which they claim target ships connected to Israel, have disrupted vital global trade routes. In response, the US Central Command reported that over the past 24 hours, US forces destroyed a Houthi drone and an uncrewed surface vessel in Yemen, citing a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces.

"It was determined these systems presented a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces," CENTCOM noted in a statement on microblogging site X.