Houthi missile strikes US-owned cargo ship in Red Sea

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group struck a U.S.-owned cargo ship with a missile on Monday.

The Houthis fired an anti-ballistic missile from Yemen toward the Gibraltar Eagle cargo ship on Monday, damaging the ship but not incapacitating it, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The Houthis have launched dozens of attacks against commercial vessels in recent months in a show of support for Hamas’ ongoing war against Israel.

“On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship,” CENTCOM said in a statement on Monday.

The attack took place roughly 100 miles southeast of Aden, Yemen, a region that sits near the mouth of the Red Sea, according to UKMTO. The missile struck the port side of the Gibraltar Eagle from above, causing minor damage and starting a fire in the hold of the vessel, according to UKMTO and Iran International.

The ship is still seaworthy and no injuries have been reported.

The Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks against commercial vessels and Western naval forces in the Red Sea since Nov. 19, as part of an effort to support Hamas, another Iranian-backed terrorist group that launched attacks against Israel on Oct. 7 that resulted in over 1,200 civilian casualties. The U.S. created a coalition of Western forces to guard the Red Sea region in December in response to the Houthis aggression.

The coalition carried out two retaliatory sets of strikes against Houthi-controlled areas last week, destroying weapons repositories, launch sites, and radar facilities.

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