JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels mentioned they attacked a U.S. Navy cellular base at sea Monday with out providing proof, one thing instantly rejected by an American protection official.
The claimed assault focused the usLewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as a floating touchdown base. The Puller had been earlier stationed within the Arabian Sea as a part of American efforts to curtail Houthi assaults on business transport by means of the Crimson Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Houthi navy spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree mentioned in a press release it fired a missile on the Puller within the Gulf of Aden. He supplied no proof.
Houthi assaults will proceed “till the aggression is stopped, and the siege is lifted on the folks of Palestine within the Gaza Strip,” Saree mentioned within the assertion.
A U.S. protection official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate intelligence issues, mentioned there had been no reported assault on the Puller. Nevertheless, the Houthis have beforehand launched missiles that didn’t attain their meant goal, as an alternative crashing down onto the land or sea.
The Puller served as a cellular base for the U.S. Navy SEALs who performed a Jan. 11 operation seizing Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missile parts believed to be certain for Yemen. Two SEALs went lacking within the operation and are presumed to have died.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly focused ships within the Crimson Sea over Israel’s offensive in Gaza in opposition to Hamas. However they’ve continuously focused vessels with tenuous or no clear hyperlinks to Israel, imperiling transport in a key route for world commerce between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.
The Houthis hit a business vessel with a missile on Friday, sparking a fireplace that burned for hours.
Jon Gambrell, The Related Press
