The Houthis targeted many ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden during the past months (Anatolia)

The British Maritime Trade Operations Authority and Embrey Maritime Security said on Friday that a commercial cargo ship was subjected to a missile attack 76 nautical miles west of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah.

The authority indicated that the bombing caused damage to the ship, but its crew was not harmed, and stated that the ship sailed to another port.

The authority - run by the British Royal Forces - also reported that another ship, which was sailing 50 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, reported two missiles flying above it before they exploded at a distance.

She said that the ship's captain informed the concerned authorities that two missiles had passed over the ship and that two explosions were heard at a distance, stressing that the incident did not cause damage to the ship or its crew.

The US Central Command (Centcom) announced at dawn on Friday the destruction of 9 anti-ship ballistic missiles and two drones that the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) were about to launch from areas under its control in Yemen, according to the statement.

The US Central Command said - in a statement - that it destroyed these weapons after the Houthis fired 4 anti-ship ballistic missiles, two of which landed in the Gulf of Aden and the others in the Red Sea, without causing any damage.

The statement pointed out that US forces "succeeded in identifying and destroying 9 anti-ship missiles and two drones in the areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen."

As usual in its previous statements, Centcom stressed that it is taking “these measures to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters protected and safer for the US Navy and commercial ships.”

Yesterday evening, Thursday, the Houthi group announced a new American-British attack with 3 raids on the coastal governorate of Hodeidah, west of the country, bringing the total number of raids yesterday, Thursday, on the same governorate to 14 in one day.

Houthi feast

For his part, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi vowed to expand the scope of attacks against Israeli ships and ships linked to Israel “to an extent that the enemy does not expect,” and pledged to prevent ships linked to Israel from crossing from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope.

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said - in a recorded television speech - that the Houthi operations that have been targeting ships in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and the Arabian Sea for months in support of the resistance in the Gaza Strip will continue and extend to prevent ships linked to Israel from even passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope.

He added that the military operations have reached an unprecedented extent, including 3 in the Indian Ocean, noting that 73 ships have been targeted since the beginning of the operations, including 12 ships this week.

He vowed to expand the scope of the attacks to "an extent that the enemy does not expect," saying that the Houthi operations this week were carried out using 58 ballistic missiles and drones.

The leader of the Houthi group announced that 34 members of the group had been killed since the start of operations targeting ships linked to Israel.

In response to the Houthi attacks, the United States and Britain, along with other countries, launched military operations against the Houthis under the name “Guardian of Prosperity.” Washington and London say that the air strikes aim to weaken the group’s ability to threaten maritime navigation in the Red Sea.

International shipping companies were forced to stop their operations in the Red Sea or divert their operations to avoid Houthi strikes.

In support of the Palestinian resistance in its response to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Houthi group has been targeting ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel since last November 19. The group has expanded its attacks to include American and British ships following the start of the raids on Yemen in January. /Last January.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies