UK denies warship in Red Sea targeted by Houthis

Britain’s defense ministry says a statement by Yemen’s Houthis that they fired ballistic missiles at a British destroyer in the Red Sea was false.

The Houthis did not say whether the attack they said they had carried out on the HMS Diamond had caused any damage, but described it as “accurate.”

“These claims are untrue,” a British Ministry of Defense spokesperson says.

The Houthis said they had also attacked two commercial vessels which they identified as the Norderney and Tavvishi.

The statement said the Tavvishi – which was in the Arabian Sea – and the Norderney had both been hit, and that a fire broke out on the Norderney.

Private security firm Ambrey says a missile hit the Norderney’s forward station late Saturday, starting a fire that those on board later put out. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people “on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident,” Ambrey adds, though no one was hurt onboard.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported the attack on the Norderney and fire in the same area off Aden, saying “damage control is underway.”