World

Yemen's Houthis attack US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in Red Sea

Spokesperson says attack was in response to British and American strikes on its bases in Yemen on Thursday

Reuters May 31, 2024

Components of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG), guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63) and French Navy frigate FS Languedoc (D 653) transit the Strait of Hormuz on November 25, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

DUBAI:

Yemen's Houthis launched a missile attack in the direction of the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea in response to US and British strikes on Yemen, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Friday.

A US defence official told Reuters they were not aware of any attack on the Eisenhower.

Six US and British strikes have killed 16 people and wounded 41, including civilians, Saree said in a televised statement.

Strikes on the province of Hodeidah targeted the port of Salif, a radio building in Al-Hawk district, Ghalifa camp and two houses, Saree said.

The US and British militaries said they launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday to deter the group from further disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.

The US Central Command said US and British forces had hit 13 targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The British defence ministry said the joint operation targeted three locations in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which it said housed drones and surface-to-air weapons.

"As ever, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimise any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure," the British defence ministry said.

"Conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness should also have mitigated yet further any such risks."

Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdelsalam said the strikes were a "brutal aggression" against Yemen as punishment for its support of Gaza.

Iran condemned the strikes as "violations of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity..., international laws and human rights", Iranian state media reported.

"The aggressor US and British governments are responsible for the consequences of these crimes against the Yemeni people," Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea region since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas, drawing retaliatory US and British strikes since February.