Yemen's Houthi rebels suspected of targeting ship in Gulf of Aden

Sanaa, March 17: A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels saw an explosive detonate near a ship early Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, potentially marking their latest assault on shipping through the crucial waterway leading to the Red Sea, media reports said.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said the vessel's crew saw the blast as it passed off the coast of Aden, the port city in southern Yemen home to the country's exiled government, The Times of Israel reported.

"No damage to the vessel has been reported and the crew are reported safe," UKMTO said.

The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks in the same area, disrupting energy and cargo shipments through the Gulf of Aden.

The group did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, though it typically takes the Houthis several hours before acknowledging their assaults, The Times of Israel reported.

Separately, the US military's Central Command said earlier that it carried out a series of strikes targeting the Houthis. It said it destroyed five drone boats and one drone before takeoff from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on Saturday. It was an unusually high number of drone boats to be destroyed.

Separately, the US military shot down one Houthi drone over the Red Sea, while another was "presumed to have crashed".

"There were no reports of damage or injuries from ships in the vicinity," the US Central Command added.