News - Middle East: Britain’s maritime safety agency, UKMTO, says a merchant ship sailing through the Red Sea has caught fire after being targeted by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s western coast.

The agency reported that armed men on small boats fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at the unidentified vessel 51 nautical miles (94 kilometers) southwest of Yemen's strategic port city of Hudaydah on Sunday.

 “The vessel has been engaged by multiple small vessels who have opened fire with small arms and self-propelled grenades,” UKMTO said, adding that armed security teams on the ship have returned fire.

UKMTO further noted that the attack resulted in a fire onboard and that the incident was ongoing.

Ambrey, a UK-based maritime security group, also reported that the merchant vessel “was approached and attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea” before being attacked with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

It later said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, it comes as Yemen’s armed forces continue attacks in retaliation for the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the Yemeni forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have announced that they will continue their attacks until Israel halts its ground and aerial offensives in Gaza, where over 57,300 Palestinians have lost their lives since the war began on October 7, 2023.

The Yemeni forces have also conducted a series of operations against American and British vessels in response to deadly attacks by the US and the UK against their country.

Source: Press TV