Houthi claims to have attacked the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
The group said its attack had thwarted "hostile operations" that the US military was "preparing to conduct" in Yemen.
On November 12, Houthi forces in Yemen launched a “successful” missile attack on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, according to a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) by spokesman Yahya Saree. He added that a second attack targeted two US Navy destroyers in the Red Sea.
Houthi is a Shia Muslim group that claims to be the government of Yemen and currently controls the capital Sanaa and the northwest of the country. The group has been disrupting Israeli and Western shipping in the Red Sea for nearly a year, in an attempt to pressure Israel to stop attacking Gaza.
The Houthi statement said the November 12 attack used "several cruise missiles and unmanned vehicles" and was carried out "while the American enemy was preparing to launch hostile operations" against Yemen.
According to Saree, the group “successfully achieved its objectives” and an air attack by US forces was “prevented”. The two operations lasted a total of eight hours, he added.
Following the recent escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, the Houthis have added an end to “Israeli aggression” against Lebanon to their list of demands. They also blame the US and UK, which have carried out large-scale attacks on the group, for “turning the Red Sea region into a zone of military tension” and causing “consequences for maritime activities”.
The US Navy has yet to make any statement regarding the alleged attack on its ship.
Previously, on November 12, China's Xinhua news agency cited a source from Yemen as saying that at least 10 Houthi members were killed in two US drone attacks in Al-Bayda province, central Yemen.
The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed on X that aircraft from the USS Abraham Lincoln supported operations against "Iran-backed" Houthi forces.
Centcom said on November 11 that it had also conducted airstrikes against several targets in Syria that it said were linked to Iranian-backed groups. Centcom said the airstrikes were in response to attacks on US forces, but did not specifically confirm which groups were targeted. The US has accused the Houthis of being Iranian proxies, which the group has denied.
