AL-MUKALLA: The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported on Tuesday two explosions near a ship in the Gulf of Aden as international marine task forces in the Red Sea shot down drones fired by the Yemeni Houthi militia.
The skipper of a ship transiting the gulf notified the UK maritime agency of two explosions “in close proximity to” the ship 82 nautical miles south of Yemen’s southern city of Aden, and that the ship and crew were unharmed.
The incident prompted the UKMTO to encourage ships traveling in the Gulf of Aden to be cautious and to report “any suspicious activity.”
This comes as the US military and the EU naval operation in the Red Sea said they shot down Houthi drones in the previous 24 hours.
US Central Command announced in a statement on Tuesday that its forces destroyed on Monday one uncrewed aerial system fired by the Houthis from Yemeni territory under their control, targeting foreign commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea.
“It was determined the UAS presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” USCENTCOM said.
The EU mission in the Red Sea, known as Eunavfor Aspides, said an Italian frigate shot down one drone on Monday while responding to a strike conducted by the Houthis from regions under their control in Yemen.
Until Tuesday afternoon, the Houthis had not claimed responsibility for new strikes on commercial or navy ships in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.
Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles against vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and, most recently, the Indian Ocean in support of the Palestinians against Israel’s war in Gaza.
On Friday, the Houthis said they will expand their campaign against Israel to the Mediterranean, targeting Israel-linked ships there and any place within range of their drones and missiles.
Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed on Monday to have uncovered an “espionage” network working for the US and Israel.
Houthi media broadcast images and videos of 10 individuals from the western province of Hodeidah who admitted to being recruited by Yemeni military officers at military locations under government control.
They claimed that these individuals were given the task of gathering information about the locations of missile and drone launchers, boats, weapons storage facilities, trenches, and movements of the Houthi forces, and that their information assisted US and UK strikes at those locations.
The Houthis accused Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a former intelligence official and brother of Tareq Saleh, a member of the country’s presidential council, of running the dismantled network from a military base on the country’s western coast.
In 2022, a Houthi court in Sanaa sentenced Ammar Saleh to death in absentia for allegedly damaging Yemeni military missiles and air-defense systems while serving as the deputy director of the National Security Bureau.
Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani described the Houthi claims as “fabricated lies,” accusing them of torturing “innocent” people who appeared on the footage to convince them to admit to crimes they did not commit.
He added that the Houthis were using Israel’s war in Gaza to lay the groundwork for a new military operation against the Yemeni government.
“The terrorist Houthi militia’s scapegoating of innocent inhabitants of Tehama (Hodeidah), dictating them these lines as depicted in the false scenes it disseminated, and forcing them to make unfounded confessions through torture, pressure, and coercion,” Al-Eryani said on X.