Iranian backed Yemen's Houthi rebels target oil tanker in Red Sea

An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted an oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, as a second ship nearby also came under fire. Both attacks were near where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group.

The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed rebels' campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

Meanwhile, the efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion seek to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil.

In Monday's first assault, ballistic missiles hit the Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I, and a third exploded near the ship, the multination Joint Maritime Information Center overseen by the U.S. Navy said.

All crew on board are safe (no injury reported), the cente