Yemen’s Houthis Suspected of Missile Attack Targeting a Ship in Bab al-Mandeb 

Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
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Yemen’s Houthis Suspected of Missile Attack Targeting a Ship in Bab al-Mandeb 

Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)

A ship came under attack by two missiles in the key Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Monday, the latest assault believed to have been carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias.

No one was wounded in the attack and the ship was continuing on its journey, the British military’s United Kingdom Trade Operations center said in a statement.

It wasn’t clear how much damage was done to the ship.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, but it often takes them several hours to acknowledge their assaults.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That has disrupted shipments through the waterways and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects them.



Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the opposition which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria's revolution, the source said according to Reuters.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed "the form of the military institution in the new Syria" during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability".

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the opposition’s Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa's group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad's rule in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.