Houthis claim missile attack on oil tanker in Red Sea

DUBAI: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility on Saturday for an attack on the oil tanker M/T Pollux, which U.S. officials said the previous day had been hit by a missile.

“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against a British oil ship (Pollux) in the Red Sea with a large number of appropriate naval missiles,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement, adding the strikes “were accurate and direct”.

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said on Saturday that four anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Red Sea over several hours on Friday.

Centcom assessed that at least three of the missiles were launched towards the M/T Pollux, which it said was a Panamanian-flagged, Denmark-owned, Panamanian-registered vessel. There were no reported injuries, the statement said.