Photo: Xinhua
SANAA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
"In support of the Palestinian people and in response to the American and British aggression against our country, our naval forces carried out an attack targeting the American ship 'Ginko Picardie' in the Gulf of Aden with several missiles, and the strike was precise and direct," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi al-Masirah television.
"Our forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Arabian and Red Seas as part of our legitimate right to defend Yemen and continue to support the oppressed Palestinian people," the spokesman stressed, adding that any new attack by the United States and Britain "will not go unanswered and unpunished."
"We are targeting only Israeli vessels or vessels heading to Israeli ports... Our military operations will continue until Israel ends its attacks and siege on the Palestinian enclave in the Gaza Strip," Sarea said.
The statement came after the US re-designated the Houthi group as a terrorist organisation on Wednesday, which will officially come into effect in 30 days.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the designation was in response to continued threats and attacks by the Houthis on "U.S. military forces and international naval vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," adding that the decision would be reversed if the Houthis stopped their attacks.
In January 2021, the Houthi group was designated a terrorist group when the administration of then US President Donald Trump implemented a series of his latest foreign policy measures. The designation was rescinded by the Joe Biden administration in February 2021.
The faction immediately reacted to the new US sanctions, saying that the re-designation came for political reasons and would not deter Houthi operations.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023, the Houthis have escalated their attacks in the Red Sea region, demanding an end to Israeli attacks and the siege of Gaza.
Since the overthrow of the internationally recognised Yemeni government in 2014, the Houthis have controlled much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
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