DUBAI, March 8 (Reuters) - British maritime agencies said on Friday that an incident had been reported in waters around 50 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's city of Aden where Houthi militants have been attacking ships.

The Iran-backed group has launched drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that the authorities are investigating the incident while security firm Ambrey said it is aware of an incident nearly 52 nautical miles south of Aden and is also investigating. (Reporting by Tala Ramadan and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Hugh Lawson)