Houthi attack Bab el-Mandeb kills six as US fires on ship in Gulf of Oman
Six people were killed in an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, Yemeni authorities said, in what appears to be the first known deaths from Houthi attacks on shipping off Yemen in the latest round of fighting. In a separate development, the US military said its forces fired on a ship in the Gulf of Oman that it said was trying to break the American blockade of Iranian ports.
The incidents came amid wider tensions across the region. The deadly strike near Yemen followed renewed concern over the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut down by Iran, while at the United Nations, European members of the Security Council criticised escalating violence in the West Bank.
Yemen’s coast guard said those killed in the vessel attack included four crew members and two members of the government-allied National Resistance Forces. The Transportation Ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognised government said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at the Yemeni commercial vessel.
The strike came as the Houthis continued attacks on the government-held port city of Mokha on the Red Sea and other parts of the country. Dozens of government troops and civilians have been killed in attacks since last week, according to the Yemeni military. The strikes are part of an escalation by the Houthis against government forces in Yemen, oil facilities in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which backs the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthi attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war after a 2022 truce and open a new front in the Middle East war. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, accused Saudi Arabia in a social media post of exploiting the ceasefire to tighten an air and sea blockade imposed in 2015. He said the Houthis are open for negotiations, but any settlement must include lifting the blockade.
On Tuesday, the US military said its forces fired on the Panamanian-flagged M/V Vela Nova in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to evade the blockade on Iranian ports. US Central Command said the vessel ignored warnings to stop, prompting an American helicopter to fire missiles into the engine room and disable the ship. The statement did not say whether there were any casualties among the crew.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday night that the US military has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, despite continuing Iranian attacks on ships there that have largely impeded traffic. “Iran is going fine, going just absolutely fine,” he told reporters after a trip to Ohio. “We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have control over it. Nobody else. Only us,” Trump said.
Central Command said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled three non-compliant vessels and boarded two. The US Navy currently has more than 15 warships, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship, in the waters of the Arabian Sea. Iran has refused to back down from demands that the US end the blockade of its ports, lift sanctions and meet other conditions. Iran effectively closed the strait after Israel and the US attacked the country on February 28.
At the UN, five European nations on the Security Council called a meeting on Tuesday as Britain’s new UN Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh condemned escalating violence across the West Bank, calling settler attacks on Palestinian villages, some alongside Israeli soldiers, “appalling”. Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory is already “underway — brutally and relentlessly” and urged international action to chart a path for Palestinian self-determination and “freedom”.
Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon responded by saying, “Israel condemns all violence against Israelis and Palestinians” and “does not tolerate extremism – we confront it.” Danon said “extremist attacks” by Israelis are declining and accused council members of ignoring “rising” attacks by Palestinians. Taken together, the developments underlined the strain across key waterways and conflict zones in the wider Middle East.
With PTI Inputs
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