Islam Times - New British Ship Struck by Yemen, On Fire Now

Islam Times - A new British ship is on fire in the Gulf of Aden after what appears to be a strike by Yemeni forces. .

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said the Thursday strike saw two missiles fired at the ship some 70 nautical miles southeast of Aden.

US-led coalition forces are responding to the incident, the UKMTO said.

Ship-tracking data identified the vessel ablaze as a Palau-flagged cargo ship named Islander.

The private security firm Ambrey also said “the missile attack led to a fire onboard and coalition military assets were responding to the incident.”

The attack comes as on Tuesday a British cargo ship was struck and sunk in Gulf of Aden for violating a Yemeni ban on Israeli regime in solidarity with Gaza.

"Submarine weapons" introduced

The Yemeni attacks are growing more precise and sophisticated as a new weapon was recently introduced by Ansarullah Movement.

Yemen’s armed forces have introduced “submarine weapons” in their attacks on vessels either owned by Israel or associated with the regime, Ansarullah Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday.

“We introduced the submarine weapon into the confrontation in the Red Sea, and it is a weapon that worries the enemy,” he said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The new weapon is expected to dramatically change the face of Yemeni attacks on the hostile targets in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea as it is hard to detect.

The US and Britain launched their bombing campaign against Yemen earlier this month, saying that they want to destroy Ansarullah capability to carry out attacks. Experts, however, say the Western attacks are way far from being able to completely destroy the movement’s military power.

Now, introduction of the new underwater drone can change the game drastically and push to collapse the Western alliance in the Red Sea.

Yemen says its operations continue until Israel ends war on Gaza.

Ships that are wholly or partially owned by Israeli individuals or entities; Israel-flagged vessels, or those owned by US or British individuals or entities, or sailing under the flags of the US or Britain, are banned from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, according to new notices issued from Sana'a on Thursday.

“The Humanitarian Operations Center was established in Sana’a to coordinate the safe and peaceful passage of ships and vessels that have no connection to Israel,” a senior Ansarullah official said.

Desperate West

Ansarullah attacks are proving to be a serious trouble to the bullying West that wants to protect the Israeli interests as Tel Aviv is busy with butchering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The US since the early days of its bombing campaign realized its mission is not working, however. It turned to China for a solution.

Reuters reported on January 24 that Washington asked Beijing to press Tehran for a cessation of Ansarullah operations.

"The US has repeatedly raised the matter with top Chinese officials in the past three months," part of Reuters report said.

However, China reportedly declined the demand, with experts saying that Beijing will not play in the American game, and additionally an unstable Red Sea serves its Road and Belt Initiative and shatters a rival trade route proposed by the US to India, Israel, and Europe.

A similar demand to China was made by Britain last week, according to Anadolu news agency.

Britain urged China on Friday to “use its influence on Iran to pressure the Houthis over their actions in the Red Sea,” during a meeting in Germany of top foreign policy officials, according to a statement.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference where they “agreed that the UK and China should continue engagement across a range of areas important to the UK national interest.”

These demands from China make one point clear: Western naval alliance is a failure story.