Suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sets off explosions ahead of a ship in the Gulf of Aden

A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Friday set off explosions ahead of a vessel in the Gulf of Aden, authorities said.

No one was hurt on the ship, which continued on its way, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations centre, which watches over Middle East’s waterways. The private security firm Ambrey also separately reported the attack.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. A statement from Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree was delayed on Friday night over “urgent military developments in the theatre of military operations”, according to the rebel-controlled SABA news agency. He was scheduled to speak on Saturday.

Friday’s explosions came after a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel.

It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis describe the attacks as trying to pressure Israel into stopping the war, but their targets increasingly have little or nothing to do with the conflict.

Other recent Houthi actions include an attack in February on a fertilizer-carrying cargo ship, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

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