(AFP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Saturday claimed an attack a day earlier on an oil tanker in the Red Sea, the latest in a series of strikes which have led to retaliation by Britain and the United States.
The Huthis said the vessel was British, although the US military later said it was Danish.
Huthi naval forces “carried out an operation targeting the British oil tanker Pollux in the Red Sea” with missiles, rebel spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.
He did not say how the rebels had determined a “British” connection to the ship.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that four anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen, between Friday afternoon and 1:00 am (2200 GMT) on Saturday.
“At least three of the missiles were launched towards… MT Pollux, a Panamanian-flagged, Denmark-owned, Panamanian-registered vessel,” CENTCOM said in a statement on social media.
It added that it had “successfully conducted two self-defence strikes against one mobile anti-ship cruise missile and one mobile unmanned surface vessel” in Yemen, which it said “presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region”.
The strike came on the same day that Washington’s redesignation of the Huthis as a terrorist group and accompanying sanctions came into force.
A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday the vessel was able to continue on its voyage.
The tanker “sustained minor damage” in the missile strike northwest of Yemen’s port of Mokha, security firm Ambrey said.
The latest attack came after the US military said earlier on Friday it conducted strikes “against three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles in Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”.
In December the United States announced a maritime security initiative, Operation Prosperity Guardian, to protect shipping in the area.
Repeated strikes on Huthi targets by the United States and Britain have failed to halt the rebel attacks.
The group says it is targeting vessels linked to Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is fighting a bloody war against Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attack.
The attacks have caused significant disruption to international shipping, with many companies choosing to divert their vessels thousands of kilometres (miles) around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the Red Sea.
At war with Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2014, the Huthis control the capital Sanaa and large parts of the north, including most large population centres.
European Union foreign ministers will meet on Monday in Brussels to formally launch a naval mission of their own to help protect international shipping in the Red Sea against Huthi attacks, officials said on Friday.