Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a large-scale drone and missile attack in the Red Sea described as the biggest yet in the international shipping corridor.
Military spokesman Yahya Saree said a "large number" of missiles and drones targeted a US ship that was "providing support" to Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza.
"The naval forces, the missile force, and the unmanned air force of the Yemeni armed forces carried out a joint military operation with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones," he said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US military said American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles launched by the Huthis towards shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Saree did not give a timing or a location for the attack but a Huthi leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was the same incident.
Separately, Tawfiq Al-Humairi, adviser to the Huthis' Ministry of Information, told AFP that "this attack is considered the largest carried out by the Yemeni armed forces" since the start of their Red Sea campaign against vessels they consider linked to Israel.
In a statement, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps also said it was the "largest attack... to date" by the Huthis in the Red Sea.
The rebels, part of the "axis of resistance" of groups arrayed against Israel, have launched more than 100 drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea during the ongoing war in Gaza, according to Pentagon figures.