This was the latest deadly attack on a ship in this Red Sea waterway after Houthi rebels declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia last month.
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Yemen’s Ministry of Transport accused Houthi rebels of firing a salvo and reported “three consecutive ballistic missile strikes” on the cargo ship “Tihamah” as it “sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.”
“Due to the Houthi attack on the ship carrying food supplies, a fire broke out, four crew members were killed – three Pakistanis and one Indonesian, and four other crew members and one rescue team member were injured,” the ministry said.
A source in the Yemeni government forces deployed in the port city of Mocha reported that five people died in the incident.
British maritime security company “Vanguard” earlier reported that at least two people died on the “Tihamah” ship during the incident but did not provide any information about a possible perpetrator.
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“Two crew members died – one Pakistani and one Indonesian citizen, and four others, including three Pakistanis and one Indonesian citizen, were injured,” the agency added.
“Later, the Yemeni naval forces were deployed to assist the ship, which came under fire, resulting in one more death,” Vanguard reported.
The incident occurred after the long-standing ceasefire in the Yemeni civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi Arabia-backed and internationally recognized government collapsed last month.
The United Nations (UN)-backed 2022 agreement collapsed when the Houthis, with Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz, declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, striking Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and the kingdom’s oil infrastructure.
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