UK reports new maritime incident off Yemen
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom
British firm AMBREY said on Friday that it had received a report of an incident 15 nautical miles west of Mocha, western Yemen.
The British security firm said in a statement that it was investigating the matter and would provide updates as they become available.
Earlier, the US Central Command said its forces had engaged with a Houthi-controlled boat and drone in Yemen, destroying them.
On Thursday, the Houthi armed group announced that it had targeted “102 US-UK and Israeli commercial and warships” since last November.
Houthies leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a speech broadcast on the group’s affiliated channel Al-Masirah, that the group was seeking to expand and strengthen its “new operations in the Indian Ocean.”
Since November, the Houthis have targeted more than 60 commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They said they were targeting Israeli-linked ships that were carrying out a brutal attack on Gaza Strip. However, the Yemeni government and experts say the Houthis’ goals are domestic to escape internal crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the United States and Britain have been carrying out an air strike campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi militants since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced the expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.