Sanaa, Jan 18 (IANS): Yemen's Houthi group has claimed responsibility for launching a missile attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"In support of Palestinian people and response to the US and British aggression against our country, our naval forces carried out an attack targeting the US ship 'Ginko Picardie' in the Gulf of Aden with a number of missiles, and the strike was accurate and direct," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Wednesday in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"Our forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Arab Sea and the Red Sea within our legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people," the spokesman stressed, adding that any new assault from the US and Britain "will not go without response and punishment".

"We target only Israeli vessels or those heading to the Israeli ports... Our military operations will continue until Israel ends attacks and siege on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip," Sarea added.

This statement came after the US re-designated on Wednesday the Houthi group as a terrorist organisation, which will officially take effect in 30 days, Xinhua news agency reported.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the designation was in response to the Houthis' continued threats to and attacks on the "US military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," adding that the decision would be reversed if the Houthis cease their attacks.

In January 2021, the Houthi group was designated a terrorist group as the US administration of then-President Donald Trump rolled out a slew of its last foreign policies. The designation was revoked by the Joe Biden administration in February 2021.

The faction immediately responded to the new US sanction, saying the re-designation came for political purposes and would not deter the Houthi operations.

The Houthis have escalated their attacks in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, demanding an end to Israeli attacks and siege on Gaza.

The Houthis have controlled much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, since ousting the internationally recognised Yemeni government in 2014.