Previous US raids targeted the Dune area in Hodeidah, western Yemen (Al Jazeera)

The Ansar Allah Houthi group announced - at dawn on Wednesday - that sites in Hodeidah Governorate were subjected to 6 raids launched by American and British forces, while the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority said it had received reports indicating that it had monitored intense flights of drones near Hodeidah.

The Houthis' Saba Agency quoted an unnamed security source in the group as saying, "The American-British aggression launched 4 raids on the Al-Arj area, northwest of Hodeidah," without further details.

The Yemeni Al-Masirah Channel said in breaking news - this morning, Wednesday - that “an American-British aggression targeted the Al-Jabbana area in Hodeidah with two raids,” without giving details about the sites targeted by the two raids and the losses that may have resulted from them.

Intense flying of marches

For its part, the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority announced that it received - today, Wednesday - a report of increased drone activity 40 nautical miles west of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, where the Houthis are attacking cargo ships in protest against the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip for about 5 months.

US Central Command also announced - today, Wednesday - that the Houthis targeted an American ship flying the Japanese flag with two anti-ship ballistic missiles last Sunday, February 19, while it was sailing to the port of Aden.

Central Command said in a statement that one of the two missiles exploded near the ship carrying goods, causing minor damage.

Targeting American military ships

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) confirmed that an American MQ9 military drone was shot down by a missile launched by the Houthis, while the US Central Command announced that 10 drones belonging to the group had been shot down.

US Department of Defense Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in a press conference that the Houthis shot down an American MQ9 drone with a missile launched by the Houthis.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an American official as saying that, for the first time since the start of the attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Ansar Allah Houthis deliberately targeted American military ships with anti-ship missiles.

It also quoted an American official as saying that the Houthis, last Sunday, struck American military ships for the first time with anti-ship ballistic missiles.

Meanwhile, the British maritime security company Ambrey said that the Houthis targeted - yesterday, Tuesday - a cargo ship flying the Liberian flag heading to Somalia.

The Houthis said that they targeted the Israeli cargo ship (MSC Silver) with a number of missiles in the Gulf of Aden near the Red Sea.

The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, did not provide further details, but he said in a statement that the group also used drones to target a number of American warships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, in addition to sites in Eilat in southern Israel.

Mohammed Abdul Salam, the Houthi spokesman, said in a post on the

He added, "What the world is impatiently awaiting is not the militarization of the Red Sea, but rather an urgent and comprehensive announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza for humanitarian reasons that are not hidden from anyone."

Shooting down 10 drones

In another development, the US Army announced - in a statement by the US Central Military Command (Centcom) - that US and allied forces shot down 10 drones off the coast of Yemen, while two US-owned cargo ships sustained minor damage as a result of attacks.

On Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks on two American ships.

The French Ministry of the Armed Forces also announced that its navy destroyed two drones over the Red Sea at night, but it was not immediately clear whether these two drones were among the toll that the US military command announced they shot down.

Centcom said that a US destroyer shot down an anti-ship cruise missile that was “directed at it” early Tuesday, while US forces destroyed a drone and a missile launch pad in Yemen on Monday.

On Monday, two anti-ship ballistic missiles hit the Sea Champion grain cargo ship owned by an American party and flying the Greek flag, causing minor damage to it, while a drone hit the cargo ship Navis Fortuna, also owned by an American party and flying the flag of the Marshall Islands.

Since last November 19, the Houthis have been launching attacks in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea against commercial ships they suspect of being linked to Israel or heading to its ports. They say that this comes in support of the Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing a war waged by Israel since last October 7.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies