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This 2022 photo shows the bulk carrier True Confidence in Ravenna, Italy.
CNN
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Houthi ballistic missiles hit a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing two Filipino sailors, marking the first deadly attack by Iranian-backed militants in the Red Sea.
At least three crew members were killed and four others injured in Wednesday's attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier M/V True Confidence, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The ship has since been abandoned and coalition warships are currently in the area assessing the situation, two U.S. officials told CNN.
The Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines (DMW) announced the death of the national and two other Filipino crew members were seriously injured in the attack in a statement on Thursday.
The deadly attack marks a significant escalation in Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea that began in October in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The Houthis said in a statement that the attack was “accurate” and set the ship on fire.
“This targeted operation was carried out after the ship's crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni Navy,” the Houthi statement said.
The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and claim to be the country's rightful rulers.
The Houthi statement reiterated its support for the Palestinian people and said it would not stop its attacks in the Red Sea until Israel's “aggression ceases and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.”
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State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday that deaths are “sadly inevitable.”
“The Houthis have continued to carry out reckless attacks without regard for the well-being of innocent civilians passing through the Red Sea, and now, unfortunately, they have tragically killed an innocent civilian,” Miller said at a news conference. Stated.
“The United States continues to hold accountable the Houthi attacks, which not only disrupted international commerce and interfered with freedom of navigation and the high seas, but also put seafarers at risk and have now tragically killed many seafarers. “We will pursue it,” he said.
The head of the United Nations Maritime Agency expressed his condolences for the dead and renewed calls for the crew to be protected in the wake of the tragedy.
“Innocent seafarers must never become collateral victims,” International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
U.S. and Western officials say the Houthis have launched more than 45 missile and drone attacks on merchant ships and U.S. and coalition naval vessels in the Red Sea, most of which have been aimed at destroying U.S. and coalition forces. It was either intercepted by a ship or landed harmlessly in the water.
So far, no warships have been affected by Houthi drones or missiles, according to Pentagon spokesman Maj. Pete Nguyen. But Nguyen said more than a dozen commercial ships have been attacked since October, including several U.S. vessels.
The United States and Britain have also carried out four strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January, hitting weapons and missile storage facilities, unmanned air and air defense systems, radars and helicopters in one-way attacks.
U.S. Central Command also regularly conducts dynamic strikes against Houthi missiles believed to be preparing to launch from Yemen.
But the Biden administration has struggled to stop the attacks, and rebels continue to build up their weapons stockpiles in Yemen, CNN reported earlier.
Officials told CNN that the U.S. does not yet have a “denominator” that would allow it to assess the proportion of Houthi equipment that the U.S. and U.K. actually destroyed in airstrikes, and that it remains unclear whether the U.S. will further shift its military approach. said it was not clear. .
Hours after the Houthis attacked yet another cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden with ballistic missiles, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said last week, “We are aware that the Houthis have a large arsenal.'' ” “They are very capable and have sophisticated weapons, and that's because they continue to get weapons from Iran.”
“They continue to surprise us,” a senior defense official said of the Houthis. “We don’t really know what they have yet.”
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And despite a strong U.S. and coalition presence in the Red Sea, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D. It was.
The route connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, allowing ships to cut shipping routes by thousands of miles instead of detouring around Africa. In the first half of February, the Suez Canal saw a 42% drop in monthly traffic and an 82% drop in container tonnage from its 2023 peak, according to the United Nations.
CNN's Jennifer Hansler, Mostafa Salem, Sharon Braithwaite; Kathleen Magramo and Manveena Suri Contributed to the report.
