DUBAI, January 15. /TASS/. The rebel Yemeni group Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, has claimed responsibility for attacking a US merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"Yemeni naval forces have conducted an operation against a US ship in the Gulf of Aden with several anti-ship missiles," the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saria, said on the Houthis-run Al Masirah television channel.

He said the "strike was direct."

US Central Command on Monday said the Houthis struck the US-owned Marshall Islands-flagged dry cargo ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship missile. According to the command, the ship was not significantly damaged and its crew didn’t suffer any injuries.