New blast reported off Yemen after US strikes

DUBAI: A new explosion was reported off Yemen on Thursday after overnight US strikes targeted 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

The explosion, reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, happened near a vessel west of the port city of Hodeida. No damage to the ship or injuries to the crew was reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which followed a flurry of missile strikes by the Huthis who have harassed Red Sea shipping for months, triggering reprisal attacks by the United States and Britain.

Early Thursday in Yemen, US forces targeted a “Huthi UAV ground control station and 10 Huthi one-way UAVs” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region”, a CENTCOM statement said, using an abbreviation for unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.

CENTCOM earlier announced that the USS Carney had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Huthis towards the Gulf of Aden, and that three Iranian drones were downed less than an hour later. It did not specify if the drones shot down by the destroyer were designed for attack or surveillance. Maritime security firm Ambrey said a commercial vessel was reportedly targeted by a missile southwest of Aden after the Huthis claimed a missile attack on an American ship in the area that they say was heading towards Israel.