SANAA/ADEN - US warplanes launched five airstrikes targeting Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Wednesday, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The strikes hit in the area of Ras Issa in the district of al-Salif, northwest of the city, said the report, adding that there were no casualties.

Hodeidah's residents said there were huge explosions in the Houthi-controlled military sea base in Ras Issa.

Meanwhile, Yemen's internationally recognized government expressed strong condemnation on Wednesday for the Houthi group's assault on a commercial ship carrying 40,000 tons of grain intended for the war-ravaged country.

ALSO READ: US-British coalition conducts fresh strikes in Yemen

In a statement released by the state-run Saba news agency, the government said that the ship named the Sea Champion was fired upon by Houthi forces on Monday while sailing from Argentina to the port of Aden in southern Yemen.

Yemen's Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani described the Houthis' assault as "a dangerous escalation of Houthi attacks on commercial ships"

The attack was carried out using two ballistic missiles, according to a Houthi announcement.

The government said that the ship was carrying a cargo of 40,000 tons of grain, of which 9,229 tons of corn were destined for Aden. The rest was to be unloaded at the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.

The Sea Champion has delivered vital food aid to Yemen 11 times over the past five years since the outbreak of the country's civil war, according to the government.

READ MORE: Yemen's Houthis claim attack that damaged British ship

Yemen's Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani described the assault as "a dangerous escalation of Houthi attacks on commercial ships". He accused the Houthis of exacerbating Yemen's humanitarian crisis and forcing innocent civilians to pay the price.

The Houthis have been launching anti-ship missile attacks against international shipping vessels transiting the Red Sea since the past mid-November in what they said in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

ALSO READ: UN envoy: Red Sea tension slows down Yemen's peace process

Many ships have been damaged, forcing several major shipping companies to change routes around Africa, which increased the prices of shipping and goods.

The US military, which has been hitting Houthi targets almost on a daily basis since January, has yet to comment on the alleged fresh strikes.

The armed Houthis have been controlling the strategic Hodeidah since the 2018 UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, which was backed by the United States and Britain, forcing the internationally recognized government out.