YAF Strike Israeli-Affiliated Ship, Force USS Eisenhower’s Retreat

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) launched attacks on a merchant vessel that violated the embargo on the Israeli occupation and the flagship of the United States Carrier Strike Group 2, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea respectively. 

The spokesperson of the YAF, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, detailed the operations of the armed forces in a statement released on Saturday afternoon. 

The YAF attacked the vessel owned by the shipping company that had violated Sanaa’s embargo on the Israeli occupation on a previous occasion. Yemeni Armed Forces had sent shipping companies that violated the naval blockade on the Israeli occupation warning letters, barring them from sailing in Yemeni waters. 

Saree said that the YAF’s Navy fired several anti-ship ballistic missiles at the Transworld Navigator bulk carrier, achieving direct hits to the vessel. 

The MV Tutor suffered a similar fate on June 12, after it was targeted by several Yemeni Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) which completely sunk the vessel.

Yemen forces USS Eisenhower away from the Red Sea

Moreover, the YAF’s Rocket Forces launched an attack on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea, firing a number of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at the vessel. 

Earlier today, it was reported that US officials have greenlit the aircraft carrier to return home. The Eisenhower will be returning to Norfolk in the state of Virginia, the US Naval Institute’s news service mentioned, citing an anonymous official.

The reports added that the warship would be replaced by an aircraft carrier that would operate in the Pacific, with the closest known to be operating in Asia being the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Saree emphasized, once again, that the Yemeni Armed Forces will carry on with its operations in support of the Palestinian people until the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted and the war on the besieged territory ends. 

The flagship of the American Carrier Strike Group 2 has gradually sailed north of Yemen after it was attacked on two previous occasions in late May and early June. 

“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to attack any hostile foreign vessels in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea,” Saree stressed, adding that the operations against hostile military vessels come in response to the multiple aggressions on Yemen.