Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on Israel, 2 US aircraft carriers
Sanaa(The Uttam Hindu): Yemen's Houthi group has claimed responsibility for firing a "ballistic missile" toward Israel, which had been intercepted by Israeli defence systems. The operation targeted "a military target in the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel using a ballistic missile, Zulfiqar," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Friday while addressing a mass protest held to show solidarity with Palestinians, Xinhua news agency reported.
The group also targeted US aircraft carriers, USS Harry S. Truman and USS Carl Vinson, along with their escorts in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, he added, noting this was the first time that the group had targeted USS Carl Vinson since its arrival in the Arabian Sea. Sarea claimed the group also shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 20th it has shot down since November 2023.
"We will not back down from continuing our support operations for the Palestinian people until the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted," Sarea said, while vowing retaliation against the ongoing US airstrikes on Yemen. The US Central Command has not commented on the Houthi claims yet. The latest Houthi attacks followed two waves of US airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa on Thursday night.
The deadly US air raids have so far killed 74 people, wounded 171 others, and destroyed concrete tanks storing imported fuel, according to Houthi-run health authorities. The port has been a lifeline for importing fuel into the areas under the control of the Houthi group. Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have escalated since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15 to deter the group from attacking Israel and US warships in regional waters.
The Houthis, who control vast areas of northern Yemen, have been attacking Israeli targets since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. US President Donald Trump ordered in mid-March "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthi group and later threatened to "completely annihilate them". The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where more than 51,000 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault for more than 18 months.
The group halted attacks when a ceasefire in Gaza was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, but resumed them after Israel renewed airstrikes on the enclave last month.
