CENTCOM Forces Deny Houthi Claim of Hitting U.S. Oil Tanker in Gulf of Aden

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said today the Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile missed the M/V Torm Thor, a U.S.-flagged, owned, and operated oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

The Centcom indicated that the missile was likely targeting the ship on Feb. 24 at 11:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), but it impacted the water, causing no damage or injuries.

Yesterday, the Iran-aligned group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said they targeted MV Torm Thor in the Gulf of Aden as part of their operations on shipping lanes in "solidarity" with Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel has been bombing since October last year.

Sarea said they targeted the American tanker with "a number of appropriate naval missiles."

Yesterday evening,  at about 9 p.m. (Sanaa time), USCENTCOM forces shot down two one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles over the southern Red Sea, and a third UAV crashed from an assessed in-flight failure.

Despite the barrage of U.S.-UK strikes on Houthi military sites in Yemen, the Houthi attacks on ships have continued.

For the first time since the start of the U.S.-UK aerial operations in Yemen, the Houthi group reports civilian deaths and injuries. The Houthi-run media said at least one person has been killed and eight others injured in the "US-UK aggression" on the capital Sana'a and other Yemen's provinces.

According to the Health Ministry in Sanaa, the American-British raids on Maqbana district in Taiz province killed a citizen and wounded six others. Moreover, two citizens were also injured in strikes on Al-Nahda in Al-Thawarah district in Sanaa.  

Civilians in Houthi-controlled areas fear that the continued Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden will invite more foreign military operations in Yemen. They say that the magnitude of the strikes has intensified, and this puts civilians at risk of death or injury and private and public properties at risk of destruction.