Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen came near a US warship after it aided an Israel-linked tanker that had been seized in the Gulf of Aden, the US military said.

The missiles splashed down in the water around 10 miles from the USS Mason as it aided the tanker named the Central Park on Monday, the US Central Command added in a statement.

It also said it apprehended five armed attackers who targeted the tanker, which has links to Israel, off the coast of Yemen on Sunday.

“There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident,” it added.

The Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel movement backed by Iran, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

London-based Zodiac Maritime, which manages the Liberian-flagged Central Park, said on Monday the tanker was carrying phosphoric acid when it was seized in the Gulf of Aden.

The company added that the tanker’s crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam was “unharmed”.

“We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,” the company said.

It offered no details on how the attackers left the vessel. It also did not identify them.

Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier warned “two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing” had been seen in the area before the tanker was targeted.

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Yemen’s internationally recognised government blamed the Houthi rebels for the attack, which followed at least two other recent maritime attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

On Friday, a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack.

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On Monday 20 November, Houthi rebels released a video showing armed men seizing a cargo ship in the Red Sea the day before.

The video from Yemeni Military Media shows at least seven masked men, carrying what appears to be AK-47s, drop from a helicopter and land on the top deck of the ship.

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