At least three sailors died and four others were injured, three of whom were in critical condition, according to what the United States Central Command (US Central Command) reported early in the morning after suffering this Wednesday in an attack by the Houthi rebels against a Barbadian flag ship in the Gulf of Aden, access to the Red Sea. These three sailors are the first civilian victims in the actions of Shiite insurgents against ships, according to the British embassy in Yemen.
“At least two innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping,” the British embassy said on its official X account before confirming the third fatality.
Following the attacks, the Houthi television station Al Masirah reported that military aircraft from the United States and the United Kingdom attacked the Yemeni airport of Al Hudaydah.
The United Kingdom, which participates in the naval coalition led by the United States in the Red Sea, ruled that these attacks “must stop” and gave its deepest condolences to the families of the dead and injured, whose number is currently unknown.
The British Navy earlier reported that a merchant ship had been hit 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, the provisional capital of the internationally recognized Yemeni Government, and had been damaged, requiring the crew to be evacuated with the help of the naval coalition. , without giving more details.
For his part, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea confirmed in a statement that his units had carried out an attack against the US-owned ship True Confidence, which was sailing under the Barbadian flag.
The target was “the American ship True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden with a number of suitable missiles”, which caused a “fire on board”.
This attack occurred “after the ship’s crew rejected warning messages” from the insurgents’ naval forces, according to the spokesman, who indicated that this action was carried out “in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the offensive of the USA and the United Kingdom” against Yemen.
This is one of the most serious attacks by the Houthis against a ship in this sea lane, after last month the rebels attacked the British ship Rubymar, which became the first vessel to sink due to insurgent attacks.
The Houthis began these operations against commercial shipping on November 19, but they have intensified in recent weeks after being classified by Washington as a terrorist group.
