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Yemeni rebels have fired a missile at a ship from the United Arab Emirates near the Bab al-Mandab strait, injuring a crewman, the Saudi-led coalition said Thursday.
The coalition, which intervened against Yemen's Houthi rebels and their allies more than two years ago, did not name the vessel or say whether it was civilian or military.
It was leaving the port of Mokha, in Yemen's southwest, when the attack occurred but the ship itself was not damaged, the coalition said.
Houthi rebels control parts of northern Yemen and seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014, supported by members of security forces loyal to former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In a statement on their Sabanews.net press agency, the rebels admitted carrying out the attack on the "warship" and confirmed the incident happened on Tuesday evening.
The historic port is just north of the Bab al-Mandab which links the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean and is vital to global trade.
An international naval coalition, the Combined Maritime Forces, on Monday warned that "there are still risks" to ships transiting Bab al-Mandab.
In late January Yemeni rebels attacked a Saudi warship in the Red Sea, killing two sailors. Anti-government forces are also believed to have fired missiles toward US warships in the area.
Late last year rebels also attacked a UAE vessel, the high-speed catamaran HSV-2 Swift, in the Bab al-Mandab.
The UAE said the ship was a civilian vessel and lacked "any military capability," but a UN panel of experts disagreed.
It reported in January that the vessel "was operating directly to support the military efforts" of the UAE when it was hit by a missile.
(AFP)
