<p>Cairo: Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis targeted what was described as the "US ship Pinocchio" in the Red Sea with missiles, according to a speech by the group's military spokesman televised early on Tuesday.</p><p>According to public databases operated by Equasis and the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Pinocchio is a Liberian-flagged container ship that is owned by Singapore-registered company OM-MAR 5 INC.</p>.<p>Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group will escalate their military operations in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.</p><p>Houthis' Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.</p>.<p>On Monday, airstrikes attributed to a US-British coalition hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen, killing at least 11 people and injuring 14 while defending commercial shipping, a spokesperson for Yemen's internationally recognised government told Reuters.</p><p>The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group.</p>
<p>Cairo: Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis targeted what was described as the "US ship Pinocchio" in the Red Sea with missiles, according to a speech by the group's military spokesman televised early on Tuesday.</p><p>According to public databases operated by Equasis and the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Pinocchio is a Liberian-flagged container ship that is owned by Singapore-registered company OM-MAR 5 INC.</p>.<p>Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group will escalate their military operations in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.</p><p>Houthis' Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.</p>.<p>On Monday, airstrikes attributed to a US-British coalition hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen, killing at least 11 people and injuring 14 while defending commercial shipping, a spokesperson for Yemen's internationally recognised government told Reuters.</p><p>The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group.</p>