By Jerald Jimenez
07 Mar 2024, 10:21 AM EST
Three civilians were killed and four more wounded after an attack by Houthi rebels while they were aboard a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, according to the Pentagon.
The ship, named “True Confidence,” was hit on Wednesday 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, the gateway to the Red Sea, by a projectile fired from the coast of Yemen, which is controlled by the Houthis.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations in the region, indicated in a statement that these are the first civilian casualties in the rebels’ offensive against commercial shipping.
“After the attack, the crew abandoned the ship and the coalition warships responded and are evaluating the situation,” said the Pentagon, which has not yet specified the nationality of the dead and injured, three of them in critical condition. delicate health.
The Houthis, who have the backing of Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack, but assured that their objective was to “defend the sovereignty and national security” of Yemen, which since 2014 has been mired in a civil war. According to the insurgents, the ship was American owned and the crew ignored warnings before firing the missile.
The recent attack was one of the most serious by the Houthis against a ship in the Gulf of Aden, after last month they sank the British ship “Rubymar”, which was the first to succumb to attacks by the insurgents.
The Gulf of Aden, which is one of the busiest sea routes in the world, has become the scene of the new escalation of violence between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which is supported by the United States.
The Houthis began these operations against commercial shipping on November 19, in response to Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip, but they have intensified in recent weeks after being classified by the White House as a terrorist group, a measure that has has been criticized by the UN and several humanitarian organizations for fear that it will worsen the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.