Houthis Attack 3 US, Israeli Ships in Indian Ocean - Statement

Houthi supporters attend a rally in Sanaa, Yemen [File: Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo]

Yemen’s Houthis said on Friday that they have attacked three US and Israeli vessels in the Indian Ocean.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, within the framework of implementing these directives, carried out three operations against three Israeli and American ships in the Indian Ocean, using a number of suitable naval missiles and drones, and all three operations successfully achieved their objectives," the statement said.

The Houthi movement, which controls large parts of northern and western Yemen, vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip.

This led the United States to announce a multinational operation to secure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. US and UK forces later launched multiple strikes against Houthi positions in a bid to degrade their ability to target commercial vessels.

"Our main battle is to prevent ships linked to the Israeli enemy from passing through not only the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but also the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is a major step and we have begun to implement our operations related to it," al-Houthi said in a televised speech.

Around 34 Houthi members have been killed since the group began the attacks, al-Houthi added.

Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

"Naval forces targeted the Israeli ship Pacific 01 in the Red Sea, with appropriate naval missiles," the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement.

The group also targeted "a US destroyer in the Red Sea with drones, and the operation successfully achieved its objectives," he added.

The spokesperson emphasized "the expansion of operations against Israeli ships or those affiliated with Israel or heading to the ports of occupied Palestine to include the Indian Ocean via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait."