Yemen’s Houthi group on Saturday claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Friday against what they described as a British oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a televised statement aired by the group’s al-Masirah TV “We attacked the British oil ship, Pollux, in the Red Sea with a large number of suitable naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct, thanks to God,”.
“We confirm that we will continue launching missile attacks against Israel-linked commercial vessels and Israel-bound ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” he said, suggesting that his group will only stop if Israel halts its aggression on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.
“We will not hesitate to expand our attacks in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” the Houthi spokesperson added.
The Friday attack was first reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, saying the attack occurred in the vicinity of 70 nautical miles northwest of al-Mukha, a city south of Yemen’s Hodeidah port city.
The Houthi attack came simultaneously with the United States’ designation of the Houthi group as a “global terrorist organization,” according to a statement by the White House.
The designation, which came into force on Friday, will not affect humanitarian works in northern Yemen, according to the statement.
The US-British coalition has been struggling to deter Houthi attacks on civilian shipping vessels since November last year.
