JERUSALEM — A ship in the Gulf of Aden came under attack Wednesday from a bomb-carrying drone, the British military said, in a strike likely launched by Houthi rebels.
The attack happened some 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Aden, where the drone smashed into the vessel, said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an arm of the British navy that oversees Mideast waterways.
The ship’s captain reported there was fire onboard which has now been extinguished, it said. “Vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call.”
The British military did not immediately identify the vessel, nor whom they suspected in the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, the Houthis have launched a series of similar attacks on vessels since November in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Houthis say the attacks are aimed at backing Hamas and Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip amid Israel‘s war on Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade.
The U.S. and its allies have carried out three rounds of airstrikes targeting Houthi sites over the last week, to try to deter the militants. However, the Houthis have launched several attacks in the time since, further imperiling ships traveling on a crucial trade route for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East…
