6 Killed In Houthi Attack On Commercial Vessel In Bab Al-Mandeb

SANAA, (Yemen) / ISTANBUL, Aug 12 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Six people were killed and 10 others wounded Tuesday when Yemen's Houthi group attacked a commercial vessel carrying food supplies in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Yemen's Coast Guard said,  Anadolu Ajansi reported.

Eleven Pakistani and Indonesian sailors were also rescued, the coast guard said in a statement carried by state-run Yemen TV.

Those deceased included four crew members — three Pakistanis and one Indonesian — as well as two members of the Yemeni armed forces’ 2nd Naval Brigade, it added.

Seven crew members, two coast guard personnel, and one member of the 2nd Naval Brigade were among those wounded, according to the statement.

Earlier, Yemen's Transportation Ministry said the Yemeni-flagged vessel Tihamah was struck three times by ballistic missiles while sailing through the strategic waterway, setting the ship on fire and causing material damage.

The ministry said Houthi forces fired another missile at the vessel as rescue teams were trying to reach the crew in an attempt to disrupt the rescue operation and cause further casualties.

It condemned the Houthi attack as a “terrorist crime,” saying it threatens the safety of maritime navigation and international trade.

The ministry said the targeting of the vessel, which was carrying food supplies, was part of “an escalating Houthi campaign targeting ports, civilian infrastructure in government-controlled areas, and commercial vessels serving those areas.”

It warned that such attacks pose a direct threat to food and consumer goods supplies for millions of Yemenis in both government-controlled areas and territory held by the Houthis.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the attack.

Bab al-Mandeb is the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU