The Pentagon has stated that the tried hijacking was most likely the work of Somali pirates instead of Houthi fighters.
The United States has actually stated that a group of assaulters who attempted to take an Israel-linked freight ship over the weekend were most likely Somali pirates instead of Houthi fighters from neighboring Yemen.
Speaking on Monday, Pentagon representative Brigadier General Patrick Ryder kept in mind that the United States has actually not dismissed a Houthi connection to the tried hijacking by 5 armed males over the weekend.
“We’re continuing to examine, however preliminary signs that these 5 people are Somali,” stated Ryder.
“Clearly a piracy-related event,” he included.
United States Navy forces warded off the capture of the tanker Central Park over the weekend after it was boarded by armed males, who were caught after the United States warship Mason showed up on the scene.
The tried hijacking comes at a time when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have actually performed a series of raids on ships in the area, and the United States stated ballistic rockets were fired from Houthi-controlled area in the instructions of United States ships soon after the attack.
The Houthis have actually combined control over big swathes of northern Yemen and became a growing force in the area after a yearslong war with the nation’s federal government and a union of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
While combating in Yemen has actually ended up being more controlled over the in 2015, the Houthis have actually introduced numerous attacks on Israel amidst continuous combating in between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Rocket and drone attacks introduced towards Israel have actually mostly stopped working, however the group has actually taken industrial ships in the Red Sea that they state have connections to Israel.
Following one such seizure previously this month, the United States stated that it was thinking about redesignating the Houthis as a “terrorist” organisation.
The Pentagon has stated that the ballistic rockets fired over the weekend were introduced in the basic instructions of the United States ships, however that they fell under the ocean about 19km (10 nautical miles) far from the vessels and did not lead to any injuries.
Yemen’s federal government in Aden positioned blame on the Houthis for the attack, however the group did not acknowledge either the rocket launch or the tried vessel seizure.
The Central Park is handled by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered global ship management company, owned by Israel’s Ofer household.
Source
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Al Jazeera and news firms