Yemen's Houthis claim launching missile attacks at U.S. commercial vessels, navy warships

SANAA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said it hit an American warship on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab strait, according to a video statement from the group's spokesman.

"In support of Palestinian people and in response to American-British aggression against our country, we engaged today in a clash with several American navy destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait while they were protecting two American commercial cargo vessels," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in the statement.

The Houthi missiles made a "direct hit" on an American warship and forced the two American commercial vessels to "retreat from entering the Red Sea," Sarea added.

The U.S. Central Command said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Houthis attacked a U.S.-flagged commercial ship with anti-ship missiles around 2 p.m. Sanaa time (1100 GMT).

It said the USS Gravely, a guided-missile destroyer, shot down two of the missiles and the third landed in the sea. It said there were no injuries or damage to the ship, which it identified as the M/V Maersk Detroit.

Tensions have been rising in the Red Sea, where the Houthis say their attacks on commercial vessels are in solidarity with the Palestinians, while the U.S. and Britain have been launching airstrikes on Houthi targets to deter them from disrupting maritime traffic.

The Houthis escalated their attacks on U.S. warships last week, saying they would strike any U.S. or British vessel in the area in retaliation for the airstrikes on their positions in Yemen.