Sanaa, Feb 23 : Yemen's armed Houthi group has claimed responsibility for launching missile attacks against a British cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni (Houthi) armed forces carried out an attack against a British ship (Islander) in the Gulf of Aden, with several missiles," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Thursday in a televised statement aired by the group's satellite TV channel al-Masirah.

The missiles directly hit the ship, causing a fire on it, Sarea was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"We also targeted an American destroyer in the Red Sea with several drones," he said.

He said that his group also fired several ballistic missiles and drones towards the Israeli city of Eilat.

This is the latest of Houthi attacks since mid-November last year in support for Hamas.

/IANS