DUBAI: Yemen&#39;s Houthi rebels early Wednesday claimed the attack that left a Dutch-flagged cargo ship ablaze and adrift in the Gulf of Aden, underlining the range of their weaponry and their campaign targeting shipping over the Israel-Hamas war.&nbsp;The attack on Monday on the Minervagracht was the most serious assault in months by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, which is some distance from the Red Sea, where they have sunk four vessels since November 2023.&nbsp;The attack also comes as Israel engages in a new ground offensive targeting Gaza City, as efforts to reach a ceasefire again hang in the balance. Meanwhile, the Mideast also remains on edge after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The Houthis separately threatened to &ldquo;employ all means and instruments available&rdquo; to target several American oil firms.&nbsp;The Houthis fired a cruise missile that targeted and struck the Minervagracht, a Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said.&nbsp;Saree accused the ship&#39;s owners, Amsterdam-based Spliethoff, of violating &ldquo;the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine.&rdquo; Initially, the US Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Center stated that the Minervagracht had no ties to Israel, but a note released on Tuesday indicated that the center was &ldquo;reviewing vessel affiliations for possible links to Israel.&rdquo;&nbsp;The attack wounded two mariners on board the Minervagracht, whose 19-member crew hailed from the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. They were forced to evacuate the ship after the strike inflicted substantial damage.&nbsp;A European naval force operating in the region, known as Operation Aspides, said Tuesday the Minervagracht was on fire and adrift after the crew&rsquo;s rescue.&nbsp;The Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on over 100 ships and on Israel in response to the war in Gaza, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. However, some of the group&rsquo;s targets have had tenuous links or no connections at all to Israel.&nbsp;The Houthi attack widens the area of the rebels&rsquo; recent assaults, as the last recorded attack on a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden before the Minervagracht came in August 2024.&nbsp;Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.&nbsp;The Houthis stopped their attacks on shipping and Israel itself during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense week-long campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels.&nbsp;The Houthi campaign against shipping has killed at least eight mariners and seen four ships sunk.&nbsp;Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Houthis announced that they had imposed sanctions against multiple American oil companies, including Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil Corp., as well as individuals and two ships. The rebels have issued such designations in the past before launching attacks.

Houthis, Gulf of Aden, attacks of vessels, Yemen

Asia

The attack is the most serious assault in months by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, which is some distance from the Red Sea, where they have sunk four vessels since November 2023.

Houthis claim missile attack on Dutch-flagged ship in Gulf of Aden

DUBAI: A ship probably cut cables in the Red Sea that disrupted internet access across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, experts said Tuesday. This shows the lines&#39; vulnerability over a year after another incident severed them. The International Cable Protection Committee told The Associated Press that 15 submarine cables pass through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance of the Red Sea that separates East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. Over the weekend, authorities in multiple countries identified the affected cables as the South East Asia&ndash;Middle East&ndash;Western Europe 4, the India-Middle East-Western Europe, and the FALCON GCX cables. On Tuesday, the list grew to include the Europe India Gateway cable, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik. Damage due to dragged anchorsInitial reports suggested the cut happened off the coast of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but authorities in the kingdom have not confirmed this, nor have the companies managing the cables. &ldquo;Early independent analysis indicates that the probable cause of damage is commercial shipping activity in the region,&rdquo; John Wrottesley, the committee&#39;s operations manager, told the AP. &ldquo;Damage to submarine cables from dragged anchors accounts for approximately 30% of incidents each year, resulting in around 60 faults.&rdquo; Madory also told the AP that the working theory is&nbsp;that a commercial vessel dropped its anchor and dragged it across the four cables, severing the connections. Cables in the Red Sea can be at shallow depths, making them more vulnerable to anchor dragging. Rerouting causes delaysUndersea cables are a core part of the internet infrastructure, along with satellite connections and land-based cables. Usually, internet service providers have multiple access points and can reroute traffic if one fails. However, rerouting can cause latency, or delays, for internet users. Madory said at least 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have been affected by the cable cut, including India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. Like broken plumbing&ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s completely offline, but each provider has lost a subset of their international transit,&rdquo; Madory explained. &quot;So, if you imagine this is like plumbing and you lose some volume of water coming down the pipes ... and now you just have less volume to carry the traffic.&rdquo; Cable security remains a concern, especially amid attacks by Yemen&#39;s Houthi rebels on ships related to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. In early 2024, Yemen&rsquo;s internationally recognized government in exile claimed the Houthis planned to attack undersea cables. Several cables were later cut, possibly by a ship attacked by the Houthis, dragging its anchor, but the rebels denied responsibility.

internet disruption, internet down in Pakistan

Middle East

Cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted internet across Pakistan, Africa, and the Middle East; experts cite shipping

Articles tagged with "Red Sea"

Houthis claim missile attack on Dutch-flagged ship in Gulf of Aden

Commercial shipping cut Red Sea cables, disrupting internet in Pakistan, Africa, Middle East