Militants in latest ship attack near Yemen were likely Somali, not Houthi rebels, Pentagon says

By TARA COPP
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says a group of five militants who seized another commercial ship near Yemen were likely Somali and not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and were captured by U.S. forces after fleeing the MV Central Park in the Gulf of Aden. Ballistic missiles had been fired shortly after from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, and the Pentagon has not ruled out that the Houthis were somehow linked to the Somali-conducted attack. The attacks on commercial vessels have previously been conducted by Houthis and are part of a larger rise in violence in the region due to the Israel-Hamas war.