Ship catches fire off Yemen after being hit by unknown projectiles
One report said the unidentified vessel was later hit by what may have been bomb-carrying boats, setting it ablaze.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the
Middle East
over the
Israel-Hamas war
and after the
Iran-Israel war
and airstrikes by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites.
However, suspicion immediately fell on
Yemen
's
Houthi rebels
, who have launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor in the past and have drone boats in their arsenal.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had returned fire and that the "situation is ongoing." It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometres southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's Houthi rebels.
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