Yemen’s Houthis own attack on Dutch cargo ship

SANAA (AFP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack on a Dutch cargo ship this week in the busy shipping lane of the Gulf of Aden.

The Iran-backed group, which holds swathes of territory in Yemen including the capital Sanaa, has said the attacks on commercial shipping are in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The cargo ship MV Minervagracht was hit by a projectile on Monday, wounding two people and sparking a fire, its owner said.

It was targeted “because its owner company violated the decision to ban entry to the ports of occupied Palestine,” the rebel group said in a statement carried by the Houthi-run Saba news agency.

British maritime security company Ambrey said the ship had previously been targeted on 23 September “while en route to Djibouti.”

The Houthis have also launched frequent missile and drone attacks on Israel, which has retaliated with strikes in Yemen.

Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least nine people on Thursday, a day after the rebels launched a drone attack on southern Israel.