In November, the Houthis began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
Dubai:
A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels hit a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, and the crew reported three people were killed and at least four others were injured. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been targeting commercial ships passing through the crucial Red Sea trade route for months, but Wednesday’s death appeared to be the first from such an attack.
An anti-ship ballistic missile hit the Liberian-owned Barbados-flagged M/V True Confidence, after which the crew reported “three fatalities, at least four injuries, three of them in critical condition, and severe damage to the ship” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
The statement said: “The crew abandoned the ship, and the coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation.” It also pointed out that the attack was the fifth time the Houthi armed forces launched anti-ship ballistic missiles in two days.
“These reckless attacks by the Houthis disrupt global trade and claim the lives of international sailors,” Central Command said.
Houthi armed spokesman Yahya Sarri wrote on social media that the “True Confidence” was attacked by multiple missiles “after the crew rejected a warning message from the Houthi armed forces.”
US military launches military strike
Central Command said hours after the attack on the True Confidence it conducted “two drone strikes in areas controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen, posing an imminent threat to commercial vessels and U.S. Navy vessels.” .
“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer for U.S. naval and commercial vessels,” it said in a separate statement, without elaborating.
The United States and Britain have launched multiple strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January in response to boat attacks, but the rebels continue to target commercial vessels.
The British embassy in Sanaa earlier said the death toll on board the True Confidence was at least two, describing the loss of life as “a tragic but inevitable consequence of the reckless launch of missiles by the Houthis against international shipping.”
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pledged that “we will continue to defend freedom of navigation and back up our commitments with action.”
The Houthis began attacking shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, an operation they said was intended to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
They have vowed to attack Israeli, British and American ships and vessels heading to Israeli ports, disrupting traffic along key trade routes along Yemen’s coast.
The latest incident comes after a Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated ship sank on Saturday carrying 21,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer.
The ship, named “Rubymar,” has been taking on water since it was hit by a Houthi missile on February 18. The hull was damaged and the crew was forced to evacuate to Djibouti.
A series of attacks by the Houthis has led several major shipping companies to suspend shipping routes in the Red Sea, which normally carries about 12% of global trade.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
