Three killed in Houthi attack on cargo ship

World 7 March, 2024 11:20

Three crew members have been killed and four injured in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command. These are the first deaths the group’s attacks on merchant vessels have caused.

“At approximately 11:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) Mar. 6, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden. The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship,” U.S. CENTCOM wrote on X, adding that the crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded.

According to the U.S. military, this is the fifth ASBM fired by Houthis in the last two days.

In a statement, the Houthis said the True Confidence’s crew had ignored warnings from Houthi naval forces, BBC reports.

The vessel had a crew of 20, comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese and 15 Filipino nationals. Three armed guards - two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal - were also on board.

Following the attack, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported on Wednesday evening that two US-led air strikes had targeted the international airport in the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port city of Hudaydah.

The Houthis say their attacks are to support the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. They have been carrying out drone and missile attacks against shipping passing through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea for nearly four months.

The US-led naval taskforce in the region has been shooting down as many of these missiles and drones as it can but there are simply too many for them to destroy every single one, BBC adds.