Houthis claim: We attacked a ship with a new ballistic missile

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Tuesday that they had used a new ballistic missile to hit the MSC Sarah V vessel in the Arabian Sea, Reuters reported, claiming responsibility for an attack which was reported a day earlier.

The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center on Monday said the Liberian-flagged vessel was targeted by a missile in the Arabian Sea, but was not hit. It said it was likely attacked due to perceived Israeli association.

Yahya Sarea, the Yemeni group's spokesperson, on Tuesday claimed a "accurate and direct" hit on the ship, and also claimed the vessel was "Israeli."

He also stated that the new missile can hit accurately and from a long range, as the operation proved.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region since November, in what they say are attacks in solidarity with Palestinian Arabs in Gaza.

On Sunday, a drone attack damaged a merchant ship in the Red Sea near Yemen, two maritime security agencies said, as the Houthi rebels announced naval attacks in the vital trade route.

On Saturday, the Houthis claimed that they attacked the US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, but two US officials disputed that claim.

In addition to claiming to have attacked the Eisenhower, the Houthis also said they attacked a commercial ship, Transworld Navigator, in the Arabian Sea.

In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition, made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis.

In mid-January, with support from other countries, the US and Britain targeted just under 30 Houthi locations with 150 different weapons. They have since carried out several rounds of strikes against Houthi targets.

The Houthis have been unfazed by the strikes, saying that the campaign against the "Zionist enemy" will continue and that the attacks against the American and British ships will not stop.