Two attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels strike ships in the Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted ships in the Red Sea on Monday as a new U.S. aircraft carrier approached the region to provide security for the key international trade route that has been under assault since the Israel-Hamas war erupted nine months ago.

Three small Houthi vessels, two of which were crewed and another uncrewed, attacked the Panama-flagged and Israeli-owned MT Bently I off the coast of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, according to British and American authorities.

The “reported unmanned small craft collided with the vessel twice and the 2 manned small craft fired at the vessel," the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported. ”The vessel conducted self-protection measures, after 15 minutes the small craft aborted the attack."

The captain later reported three separate waves of missile attacks that exploded in close proximity to the vessel.

Later on Monday, in a separate incident off the same coast, the MT Chios Lion, a Liberian-flagged and Marshall Islands-owned oil tanker, was attacked by an uncrewed Houthi aerial vehicle, which “impacted on the port side causing some damage and light smoke,” the UKMTO said.

Both ships and all crew were reported safe, the UKMTO said in a warning to mariners.

Late Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks on Bently I and Chios Lion.

Early Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command confirmed the attacks and identified the names and flags of the ship.

“This continued reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” a Central Command statement said. “The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are targeting and threatening the lives of third country nationals who have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza.”

Also on Monday, the Central Command said U.S. forces destroyed five uncrewed Houthi aerial vehicles, three over the Red Sea and two in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is approaching the Middle East to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which spent months in the Red Sea to counter the Houthis.

The rebels have targeted more than 70 vessels by firing missiles and drones in their campaign, killing four sailors. They seized one vessel and sank two since November.

In June, the number of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels increased to levels not seen since December, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a coalition which is overseen by the U.S. Navy. U.S.-led airstrikes have targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes on May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain, as part of the rebels’ support for the militant group Hamas in its war against Israel. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war — including some bound for Iran, which backs the Houthis.

Last week, the Houthis said they launched missiles at a U.S.-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden, marking what authorities acknowledged as the rebels’ longest-range attack yet on a U.S.-flagged vessel near the Arabian Sea. The JMIC identified the ship as the Maersk Sentosa. Maersk, a Danish firm that is the world’s biggest shipping company, confirmed to The Associated Press that its vessel had been targeted.