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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a Panama-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, as a nearby Saudi-flagged tanker ship also allegedly came under fire from the group.

The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed rebels’ campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and has halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

The new attacks on oil tankers also come amid efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion oil tanker earlier hit by the Houthis, seeking to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil.

In Monday’s first assault, two ballistic missiles hit the oil tanker Blue Lagoon I and a third exploded near the ship, the multination Joint Maritime Information Center overseen by the U.S. Navy said.

“All crew on board are safe (no injury reported),” the center said. “The vessel sustained minimal damage but does not require assistance.”

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack on the Blue Lagoon I late Monday night.

The Blue Lagoon I is traveling south through the Red Sea to an unlisted destination. The vessel was coming from Russia’s port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and had been broadcasting that it had Russian-origin cargo on board.

In recent months, the Blue Lagoon I traveled to India, which gets more than 40% of its oil imports from Russia despite Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine and the international sanctions it faces over it.

The Greek-based firm operating the ship could not be reached. The Joint Maritime Information Center said it assessed that the ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel.” Saree also cited that as the reason the Houthis attacked the vessel.

Later on Monday morning, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported a second attack off the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida. The private security firm Ambrey said an aerial drone hit a merchant ship, though no damage or injuries were reported. The attack happened only a few kilometers (miles) from where the Blue Lagoon I attack occurred, Ambrey said.

The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees American operations in the Mideast, identified the second vessel as the Saudi-flagged oil tanker Amjad and blamed the attack on the Houthis. The Amjad carried 2 million barrels of oil, it said.

“These reckless acts of terrorism by the Houthis continue to destabilize regional and global commerce, as well as put the lives of civilian mariners and maritime ecosystems at risk,” Central Command said.

The U.S. military also destroyed two Houthi missile systems in strikes on Monday, the command added.

The Houthi group did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack on the Amjad. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

In the case of the Amjad attack, the Houthis likely did not claim it given a yearslong, de facto cease-fire in which the group has not attacked Saudi Arabia as the kingdom tries to reach a peace deal with the rebels. Saudi Arabia also reached a Chinese-mediated detente with Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, last year that’s still holding.

Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s exiled government, which earlier had been thrown out of the capital, Sanaa, by the rebels.

Saudi Arabia similarly did not acknowledge the attack on the Amjad, possibly to lower any pressure on it to respond militarily. Yemen’s war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

Meanwhile on Monday, a salvage effort appeared to be underway to tow away the Sounion oil tanker, which was earlier hit by the Houthis and abandoned by its crew. Jamel Amer, an official with the Houthis, wrote online Saturday that tugboats assigned to pull the Sounion away should arrive Sunday.

However, NASA fire satellites showed a blaze at the site where the Sounion had been abandoned on Monday morning. Later photos published by the European Union’s Operation Aspides naval mission in the Red Sea of the Sounion taken on Monday showed no tugboats near the still-burning vessel.

“Private companies are involved in the salvage operation that is about to start,” the operation said. “Upon their request, EUNAVFOR ASPIDES will provide protection to the tugboats, that will deal with the salvage operation and facilitate their efforts to prevent an environmental disaster.”

It added: “Currently, several fires continue to burn on the vessel’s main deck. The vessel remains anchored without drifting, and there are no visible signs of an oil spill.”

The Sounion was carrying about 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on Aug. 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of Operation Aspides rescued the Sounion’s crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, after they abandoned the vessel and took them to nearby Djibouti.

Last week, the Houthis released footage showing they planted explosives on board the Sounion and ignited them in a propaganda video, something the rebels have done before in their campaign.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets, state media said Monday, as the U.S. and South Korea engage in joint military drills.

North Korean test photos showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings supposedly crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank. Most combat drones stand off from targets and fire missiles.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday’s test involved various types of drones built to fly different ranges to attack enemy targets on land and sea and flew along various routes before accurately hitting test targets. After the test, Kim pledged to spur the development of drones that explode on impact, conduct reconnaissance or attack targets underwater to boost his country’s war readiness, saying the North’s military should be equipped with advanced drones “as early as possible,” KCNA said.

The drone test came as the U.S. and South Korean militaries conduct the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which continue through Thursday. The exercises focus on enhancing their readiness against North Korean threats and include computer-simulated war games and live-fire training, with a combined aerial drill involving 60 warplanes that began its three-day run on Monday.

South Korea’s air force said the drill, which kicked off with precision-bombing demonstrations that included South Korean F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, is aimed at coping with North Korean threats posed by drones, cruise missiles and artillery.

The United States and South Korea also began Monday a separate amphibious landing drill involving dozens of aircraft and vessels from their navies and marines, including U.S. F-35 fighters and amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. South Korea’s military said the Ssangyong Exercise, which will continue through Sept. 7, is aimed at sharpening combat interoperability.

Lee Chang Hyun, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing that South Korea’s military was closely examining North Korea’s drone capabilities and that the South’s military is equipped with systems to detect and intercept them, without providing further details.

Some analysts suggest the North Korean drones shown in state media photos resemble Russia’s Zala Lancet-3 drones, and Lee said the South was looking into the possibility Russia had helped North Korea acquire its drone capability.

“We are aware that during the past exchanges between North Korea and Russia that some (drones) were given (to North Korea) as gifts,” Lee said. “We would need to analyze various aspects, including whether (North Korea) would have modified to improve their capabilities or other possibilities.”

North Korea and Russia have been aligning closely in the face of their separate confrontations with the U.S. Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held summits this June and in September last year.

Washington and its allies have accused the countries of expanding an alleged arms arrangement in which North Korea provides Putin with badly needed munitions to prolong Russia’s fighting in Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and technologies to upgrade Kim’s nuclear-armed military.

Animosity on the Korean Peninsula is high as Kim uses Russia’s war against Ukraine as a distraction while he strengthens his nuclear-armed military and issues verbal threats of conflict toward Washington and Seoul. While most of the international attention has been focused on his long-range missiles designed to reach the U.S. mainland, Kim has also been expanding weapons targeting rival South Korea, most notably short-range missiles and artillery systems the North has described as nuclear-capable.

Earlier this month, Kim staged a huge ceremony in the capital, Pyongyang, to mark the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units and called for a ceaseless expansion of the military’s nuclear program. This added to concerns as he demonstrated an intent to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along the North’s border with South Korea and claimed his military could react with preemptive nuclear strikes if it perceived the leadership was under threat.

In a closed-door briefing to lawmakers on Monday, South Korea’s spy agency said it’s unclear whether North Korea is currently capable of producing enough missiles to fill up those launch vehicles, which are each designed to fire multiple missiles with potential range to cover most of South Korea’s greater capital area and central regions.

The agency said the North has been focusing its manufacturing capacities on producing missiles and other military equipment that are being supplied to Russia, according to the office of lawmaker Park Sun-won, who attended the briefing.

Analysts say Kim may seek to dial up pressure in a U.S. election year as he advances his long-term goals of forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

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LONDRES – Le gouvernement du premier ministre britannique Keir Starmer a annoncé lundi qu’il suspendait les exportations de certaines armes vers Israël, car elles pourraient être utilisées pour enfreindre le droit international. Cette mesure à impact militaire limité vise à accroître la pression exercée par les alliés frustrés d’Israël pour mettre fin à la guerre à Gaza.

Le ministre des Affaires étrangères David Lammy a déclaré que le gouvernement britannique avait conclu qu’il existait un «risque clair» que certains articles puissent être utilisés pour «commettre ou faciliter une violation grave du droit international humanitaire». Il a déclaré aux législateurs que la décision concernait environ 30 des 350 licences d’exportation existantes pour des équipements «que nous estimons être destinés à être utilisés dans le conflit actuel à Gaza», notamment des pièces pour avions militaires, hélicoptères et drones, ainsi que des articles utilisés pour le ciblage au sol.

La décision n’était pas «une détermination d’innocence ou de culpabilité» sur la question de savoir si Israël avait violé le droit international, et ne signifie pas un embargo sur l’armement, a-t-il précisé.

Le ministre israélien de la Défense, Yoav Gallant, a déclaré sur X être «profondément découragé d’apprendre les sanctions imposées par le gouvernement britannique sur les licences d’exportation à l’établissement de défense israélien».

Le Royaume-Uni fait partie d’un certain nombre d’alliés de longue date d’Israël dont les gouvernements subissent une pression croissante pour arrêter les exportations d’armes en raison du bilan du conflit de près de 11 mois à Gaza. Plus de 40 000 Palestiniens ont été tués, selon le ministère de la Santé du territoire contrôlé par le Hamas, qui ne fait pas de distinction entre militants et civils dans son bilan.

La guerre a éclaté le 7 octobre. Après que des militants du Hamas et d’autres ont pris d’assaut Israël et tué environ 1 200 personnes, principalement des civils, et pris environ 250 personnes en otage. Près de 100 otages restent à Gaza, dont un tiers seraient morts.

Les entreprises britanniques vendent une quantité relativement faible d’armes et de composants à Israël par rapport aux principaux fournisseurs tels que les États-Unis et l’Allemagne. Plus tôt cette année, le gouvernement a déclaré que les exportations militaires vers Israël s’élevaient à 42 millions de livres (53 millions $) en 2022.

Le Royaume-Uni est l’un des plus proches alliés d’Israël, donc la décision a tout de même une certaine signification symbolique. Le correspondant des affaires militaires de la chaîne de télévision israélienne Channel 13 a indiqué que ce changement de politique pourrait devenir plus grave si d’autres alliés emboîtent le pas.

Sam Perlo-Freeman, coordinateur de recherche pour le groupe Campaign Against Arms Trade, a noté que l’annonce était «une mesure tardive, mais bienvenue». Il a cependant ajouté qu’il était «scandaleux et injustifiable» que des pièces pour les avions de combat F-35 ne fassent pas partie des exportations suspendues.

La décision du gouvernement intervient après que deux groupes, l’organisation palestinienne de défense des droits de l’homme Al-Haq et le Global Legal Action Network, basé au Royaume-Uni, ont déposé une plainte en justice visant à forcer le Royaume-Uni à cesser d’accorder des licences pour les exportations d’armes vers Israël. L’affaire n’a pas encore été entendue par un tribunal complet.

Dearbhla Minogue, avocate principale du Global Legal Action Network, a déclaré que «la décision historique du gouvernement justifie tout ce que les Palestiniens disent depuis des mois».

Le gouvernement travailliste de centre gauche du Royaume-Uni dirigé par M. Starmer, élu en juillet, a subi des pressions de la part de certains de ses propres membres et législateurs pour exercer davantage de pression sur Israël afin de mettre fin à la violence. Lors des élections, le parti a perdu plusieurs sièges qu’il était censé remporter au profit d’indépendants pro-palestiniens après que M. Starmer ait initialement refusé d’appeler à un cessez-le-feu suite aux représailles d’Israël après le 7 octobre.

S’écartant de la position de son prédécesseur conservateur, le gouvernement actuel a indiqué en juillet que le Royaume-Uni n’interviendrait pas dans la demande de mandat d’arrêt de la Cour pénale internationale contre le premier ministre israélien Benyamin Nétanyahou.

Le premier ministre Starmer a également rétabli le financement de l’office de secours et de travaux des Nations unies pour les réfugiés de Palestine dans le Proche-Orient de secours, qui avait été suspendu par le gouvernement du premier ministre conservateur Rishi Sunak en janvier.

M. Lammy, qui s’est rendu en Israël à deux reprises au cours des deux derniers mois dans le cadre des efforts occidentaux pour faire pression en faveur d’un cessez-le-feu, a affirmé qu’il était sioniste et ami d’Israël, mais a qualifié la violence à Gaza d’horrible.

«Les actions d’Israël à Gaza continuent d’entraîner d’immenses pertes en vies civiles, une destruction généralisée des infrastructures civiles et d’immenses souffrances», a-t-il déclaré.

La Presse Canadienne. Tous droits réservés.