US thwarts first underwater vessel operated by Houthis in Red Sea attacks
The US thwarted five attacks from Houthi rebels Saturday — including the terrorists’ first attempted stealth strike using an underwater vessel, officials say.
“CENTCOM identified [three] anti-ship cruise missiles, [an] unmanned underwater vessel, and the unmanned surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” US Central Command said in a statement Sunday.
Responding US tactical strikes occurred between 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, local time, Central Command added.
The enemy targets included an underwater vessel that was the first used by the Iran-backed terrorists since they began aiming for foreign military and merchant ships along the Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war.
The US strikes came on the same day that the Yemen-based terror group claimed responsibility for the missile that hit the M/T Pollux Danish oil tanker Friday.
At least four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired at the tanker, which was flying under the Panama flag, with three of the missiles intercepted and one hitting the vessel, Central Command said.
There were no injuries aboard the tanker, which was scheduled to deliver crude oil to India before the missile struck its port side, according to the US State Department.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the strikes “were accurate and direct,” but he appeared to misidentify the tanker as a “British oil ship.”
The terror group previously struck a British oil tanker, the Marlin Luanda, less than three weeks ago. The damaged ship required international assistance after it caught fire when the missile struck its highly flammable payload.
The Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Palestinians fighting Israel have spurred the European Union to launch a full-scale naval mission to protect the vessels as they travel across the busy trade route connecting Europe and Asia.
The German government approved the deployment of forces Friday, noting that the navy ships will focus on protection as opposed to actively attacking the Houthis.
The US and the United Kingdom, in the meantime, have continued to launch a series of airstrikes in Yemen aimed at destroying the Houthis’ terror facilities and weapon stockpiles.
Earlier this month, US and UK officials said they hit at least 30 Houthi targets across 10 locations in Yemen.
Houthi officials have reveled at the idea of fighting the US and other Israel allies, with members of the terror group and its supporters holding daily demonstrations in Yemen’s capital to celebrate the attacks and to call on Israel to withdraw from Gaza.
With Post wires
