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CAIRO, March 12 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis targeted what was described as the "U.S. ship Pinocchio" in the Red Sea with missiles, according to a speech by the group's military spokesman televised early on Tuesday.

According to public databases operated by Equasis and the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Pinocchio is a Liberian-flagged container ship that is owned by Singapore-registered company OM-MAR 5 INC.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group will escalate their military operations in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Houthis' Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

On Monday, airstrikes attributed to a U.S.-British coalition hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen, killing at least 11 people and injuring 14 while defending commercial shipping, a spokesperson for Yemen's internationally recognised government told Reuters.

The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group. (Reporting by Enas Alashray, Yomna Ehab and Mohammad Ghobari; Editing by Tom Hogue and Michael Perry)