Ten Yemeni Houthi rebels were killed in the Red Sea on Sunday after the US military said it sank three of their ships in response to attacks on a Danish container ship.
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• Also read: Iran denies involvement in attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea
Yemeni rebels' military spokesman Yahya Saree stated on X (formerly Twitter) that ten of their members were killed in “an attack by the forces of the American enemy on three boats of the Yemeni naval forces.”
The attack resulted in the “death and disappearance of 10 naval personnel,” he added.
A port source had previously pointed out that “ten Houthis were killed and two injured in an American attack on Houthi boats attempting to intercept a ship at sea off the coast of Hodeida” in Yemen.
The injured were rescued and taken to hospital and four other people survived, according to two port sources who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
AFP
The US military previously claimed to have sunk three Houthi rebel ships after attacks on a container ship owned by the Danish shipping company Maersk in the Red Sea.
When Houthi fire came under attack, American helicopters “retaliated in self-defense, sinking three of the four small vessels and killing the crews,” the American Middle East Military Command (Centcom) said in a statement, specifying that the fourth boat ” “flee from the sea” is “area”.
The US Navy, Centcom said, responded to a request for assistance from the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged container ship owned by the Danish airline Maersk, which has been a victim of the “23rd World War” since October 19. attempted attack by the Houthis on international ships.
According to Centcom, the boat reported being hit by a missile. When two US ships responded to its request for help, it was again attacked by two ballistic missiles launched from Yemeni territory and shot down by the US military.
According to Maersk, the ship was not damaged.
AFP
Multiple impacts
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, sparked by an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory by the Palestinian Islamist movement, Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea have increased attacks on what they believe are ships “connected to Israel” in solidarity with the Palestinians.
This is the first deadly attack against the Houthis since the United States announced in early December the creation of a multinational naval force responsible for protecting ships in the Red Sea, which carries 12% of global trade, following repeated attacks by the Houthis .
Danish maritime transport giant Maersk announced after the attack that it would suspend transit of its fleet in the Red Sea for 48 hours.
Their ships had just returned to the area after the deployment of the multinational naval force, as had those of the French shipowner CMA-CGM.
Together with other companies, these shipping giants had already stopped the passage of their ships through the area in mid-December.
AFP
The American Navy shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile in the Red Sea on Thursday that were fired near Iran by the Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen.
“Yemen's naval forces once again advise all countries not to get drawn into US plans to trigger a conflict in the Red Sea,” Yemeni rebel military spokesman Yahya Saree told People on Sunday.
Washington accuses Tehran of helping Yemeni rebels carry out these attacks, but the Islamic Republic has always denied providing them with military equipment.
Another Houthi spokesman, Mohamed Abdel Salam, reported on Sunday a meeting with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, “to emphasize the importance of support for the Palestinian people (…) and the fact that the people of …”The region must assume this responsibility because Israeli aggression in Gaza is a threat to everyone.”