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A cargo ship caught fire after it was shot by Huthi rebels off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea on Friday. In retaliation, the Iran-backed Huthis, which controls most parts of Yemen yet unrecognised internationally, claims to have attacked ships in an effort to apply pressure on Israel during a two month battle against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza strip.
A US defence official confirmed that the vessel was hit by a projectile which was launched from a Huthi controlled area of Yemen, resulting in damage and reported fire on board.
Speaking at Tel Aviv, Jake Sullivan US (National Security Adviser) said, “Although they are pulling the trigger, so to speak, it’s Iran that hands them the gun.”
It has been noted that this ship (Liberia Flagged Al Jasrah a The private intelligence firm Ambrey stated that the ship belonged to German transportation company Hapag-LLoyd and had suffered from an airborne assault off the northern shores of Yemen’s costal town of Mokha.
Ambree indicated that the vessel had been struck by a shell on the starboard side and one cargo container fell overboard and there was a deck fuel fire reported by wireless radio.
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However, Iran supports the rebels and they promise to attack any ship heading for Israel on a daily basis although most of these attacks end in failure.
A spokesman for Hapag-Lloyd told AFP that its ship had been attacked. There were no casualties. It was headed from Piraeus, Greece, to Singapore. The ship still sails for the destination.
However, according to Sullivan, who is currently in Israel, the Huthis are risking free navigation in the red sea as this is one of the major channels of large oil shipments and cargo transportation.
The high number of Palestinian casualties and occupation of large portions of Gaza provide a rationale for retaliation by Israel’s regional adversaries, heightening the possibility of the conflict escalating.
For instance, the rebels have managed to board or seize some vessel during a month of November. They usually instruct them on giving up and heading to a Yemeni port, and shoot at them when they fail to comply.
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Several missiles have been shot down by U.S., French and British war ships that are patrolling the area.
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