A British Typhoon aircraft is preparing from Cyprus to carry out strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen (Getty)

The Yemeni Houthi group said on Tuesday that it fired missiles at two ships in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to one of them that was sailing off the coast of the Yemeni Hodeidah Governorate.

The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, said - in a television speech - that the group fired naval missiles at the British ships "Morning Tide" and the American "Star Nasia", even though they were flying the flags of Barbados and the Marshall Islands, respectively.

In his speech, Saree pointed out that the targeting comes as “a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and within the response to the American-British aggression against our country.”

The British Maritime Security Company (Ambry) stated that a general cargo ship flying the Barbados flag and owned by a British company was damaged by a drone while sailing southeast through the Red Sea.

There were no reports of injuries. Embry said the ship performed evasive maneuvers and continued its journey.

The British shipping company Foradino, which owns the ship "Morning Tide," told Reuters that the ship is currently sailing without problems, but did not provide further information.

Yesterday, Monday, the US Army announced that it launched a strike against two booby-trapped drone boats belonging to the Houthis in Yemen. This came after new raids carried out by American and British aircraft targeting the group’s sites in Yemen.

Since November 19, the Iranian-backed Houthis have been carrying out attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea that they say are linked to Israel or heading to its ports, in support of the Gaza Strip, against which Israel has been waging war since October 7.

To try to deter them, American and British forces launched 3 waves of strikes on their sites in Yemen since January 12. The US Army alone carries out strikes from time to time on missiles that it says are prepared for launch.

American strategy

On the other hand, the New York Times quoted the US envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, as saying that Washington is following a multi-pronged strategy to regain control of the Red Sea.

He added that our strategy in Yemen includes air strikes to weaken the Houthis' ability to attack ships, in addition to intensifying efforts to intercept Iranian weapons sent to the Houthis.

Lenderking stressed that the American strategy includes increasing diplomatic efforts to pressure the Houthis.

Source: Agencies