A cargo ship was attacked by “unknown armed assailants” off Yemen’s Red Sea coast on Sunday, the British military said, as authorities investigated the incident near the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said the incident occurred about 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) southwest of the port city of Hodeida controlled by the Houthi armed forces.The British maritime trade group said the ship was reportedly attacked by unidentified armed men and authorities were investigating the incident.The incident comes days after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels renewed their threats to target commercial shipping. While the group has not resumed attacks in recent weeks, its previous drone and missile attacks on ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea during the Gaza war forced several global shipping companies to reroute traffic around the southern tip of Africa instead of using the Suez Canal, the Associated Press reported.The latest maritime alert also follows fresh land fighting in Yemen. Earlier on Sunday, AFP reported that at least 14 soldiers aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government were killed in clashes with Iran-backed Houthi rebels south of Hodeidah.The fighting started on Friday night in the Jabal Dubas area of Hays district. Fourteen government soldiers were killed and 23 others wounded in “heavy fighting”, an army officer told the news agency, adding that Houthi rebels briefly overran government positions before a counterattack retook control at dawn on Saturday.The official described the attack as “the Houthis’ deadliest in years” and said the rebels relied on snipers before launching drone and mortar attacks.Maritime security threats in the region are not limited to the Houthis. Suspected Somali pirates attacked a ship about 76 nautical miles (140 kilometers) south of the Yemeni port of Balhaf on July 1, causing minor damage to the ship’s bridge by four armed men on a small boat, according to the UK Maritime Trade Organization.
