Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen claim to have hit a Saudi navy ship with an anti-ship missile

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saudi ship houthi yemen

Abbas Almutwkel via YouTube

Footage allegedly showing a Houthi-fired anti-ship missile hitting a Saudi navy ship.

On Monday footage surfaced appearing to show an anti-ship missile hitting a ship.

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Iranian state-media claimed the attack was carried out by Houthi militants in Yemen against a Saudi Arabian navy vessel. The media cites a source as saying the vessel had 176 sailors and officers, as well as a combat helicopter, on board at the time of the attack.

Yemen's Houthi militants are known to receive support from Iran.

In October, the same Houthi militants successfully struck a United Arab Emirates ship in the waters off Yemen's western coast, where Iranian media claims this strike took place.

Later that month, when US ships entered the waters off Yemen's coast, Houthi militants shot additional missiles at US ships, which the US intercepted before firing a salvo that destroyed the radar sites that had been used to launch the attacks.

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At the time, a US general warned that the US should brace for more attacks.

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Arab Gulf states that currently back the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi against the Houthi uprising.

The US carried out a raid on al Qaeda operatives on Sunday that left 18 al Qaeda militants dead, as well as one US serviceman. Additionally, three US troops were wounded, and a helicopter was damaged and intentionally destroyed by US forces.

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