US strikes Yemen again as rebels attack Greek cargo ship

AFP:  US forces carried out fresh strikes on Yemen Tuesday, an American official said, as the Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed a missile attack on a Greek-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea.

A string of Huthi attacks and retaliatory US and British strikes have heightened fears of the Israel-Hamas war flaring across the region and disrupted trade in one of the world's key maritime commercial routes.

"The US conducted self-defense strikes against four Huthi ballistic missiles that posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships," a US official said on condition of anonymity, marking at least the third such strikes in less than a week.

Maritime risk management company Ambrey had earlier said a "Malta-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier was reportedly targeted and impacted with a missile while transiting the southern Red Sea northbound".

The ship, which has visited Israel since the outbreak of war in Gaza and was headed to the Suez Canal, changed course and headed to port after the incident, Ambrey said.

A source within the Greek maritime affairs ministry named the ship as the Zografia, a 24-crew vessel, and said it had been sailing from Vietnam to Israel.

The Zografia "sustained limited damage... but remains in a navigable condition, and is continuing its journey", the source said, adding that there were no injuries on board.

The Huthis, who say they attack what they consider Israeli-linked shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza since the war there started on October 7, claimed responsibility for the strike later on Tuesday.

They said their forces "carried out a targeting operation" against the ship with multiple naval missiles after the crew did not respond to warnings, vowing to continue such attacks "until the (Israeli) aggression stops and the siege on... the Gaza Strip is lifted".

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a maritime security agency run by the British navy, also reported an "incident" in an area northwest of Saleef in Yemen, without giving further details.