Yemen’s Houthi group said in a statement Saturday night that it had launched a new missile and drone attack against the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea in the past 24 hours, claiming the attack lasted nine hours.
“This is the fifth time we targeted the aircraft carrier since its arrival in the Red Sea,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in the statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
“The operation achieved its goals successfully and forced the aircraft carrier to leave the theater of operations and flee to the far north of the Red Sea,” he said.
The attack aimed to support the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and respond to the latest U.S.-British-Israeli airstrikes on Houthi sites in northern Yemen on Friday, Sarea said, vowing to launch more attacks against Israel until “aggression against Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.”
On Friday afternoon, Israel said it launched a joint air assault with the U.S.-led naval coalition, targeting a power station and two ports in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Amran province, and the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
Al-Masirah reported one death and nine injuries in Friday’s attack.
The Houthis have been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, when they forced the internationally recognized Yemeni government out of the capital, Sanaa.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have been carrying out rocket and drone attacks on Israel and disrupting “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians amid their ongoing conflict with Israelis.
In response, Israel has launched rounds of airstrikes on Houthi targets. In addition, the U.S.-led naval coalition stationed in the area has been conducting regular air raids and strikes on Houthi sites since January 2024 in a joint bid to deter the armed group, prompting the Houthis to expand attacks to include U.S. warships.
