By Mohammed Sameai
SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni group Houthis announced on Thursday that it had carried out 38 strikes in nearly a month in support of Palestinians in Gaza, with eight ships linked to and belonging to the US and others targeted this week for their support of Israel.
“Between May 9 and June 6, 2024, we executed 38 military operations supporting Gaza in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, reaching the Mediterranean Sea, and towards southern occupied Palestine (referring to Israel),” the group’s leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised statement broadcast by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
“This week alone, we targeted eight ships linked to and belonging to the United States and others that breached the blockade of Israeli ports,” he added.
Al-Houthi specified that “this included targeting the US aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower with seven cruise missiles and four drones.”
“Following the attack, the Eisenhower retreated towards the northern Red Sea, fearing another attack by our armed forces,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Voice of America news network reported on Wednesday that US Central Command denied the Houthi claims of attacking the USS Eisenhower, calling the allegations part of an ongoing disinformation campaign by the Houthi for several months.
In a related development, the group’s leader announced that “the number of US and UK air and naval attacks on Yemen has reached 487 so far.”
He revealed that these attacks "have caused 55 deaths and 78 injuries since the beginning of 2024."
He did not specify whether the casualties were civilians or Houthi fighters.
The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or heading to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under a devastating Israeli offensive since Oct. 7.
As US and UK airstrikes continued against Houthi sites in Yemen, the Houthis declared that all American and British ships are military targets.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul