Washington vowed to hold Yemen's Houthis accountable after the militia’s latest missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
The US continues to launch pre-emptive airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, hoping to limit the capacities of the pro-Iranian group to target ships.
Washington’s threats came as leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Thursday his forces had launched 403 drones and missiles against 61 ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since the beginning of their offensive on November 19.
In a televised speech, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said, “What is coming is greater.”
Meanwhile, Western sources affirmed that India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after the Houthi attack that killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group’s campaign against the key shipping route.
Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, they said. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured, and salvage arrangements are being made to rescue the ship.
In his speech on Thursday, the Houthi leader urged his followers to further mobilize, claiming that his group's capabilities were unaffected by the US and British strikes.
He indicated that 344 raids and naval attacks were launched on Houthis since the beginning of the US-British aggression against Yemen, and in return, admitted that his group launched 96 operations and 403 ballistic and winged missiles and drones on merchant and military ships.
Following the Houthis attack on Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We will continue to hold Houthis accountable and encourage governments around the world to do the same.”
He added the attacks “have not just disrupted international commerce, not just disrupted the freedom of navigation and international waters, and not just endangered seafarers but now tragically killed a number of them.”
- Unprecedented Attack
Concerning the attack on the True Confidence ship, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the incident took place as the vessel was about 50 nautical miles southwest of Aden.
The True Confidence is owned by the Liberian-registered company True Confidence Shipping and operated by the Greece-based Third January Maritime.
Central Command said the missile targeting the True Confidence was launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on March 6.
The missile caused significant damage on the Liberian-owned bulk carrier, resulting in three fatalities and at least four injuries among the multinational crew, three of which are critical.
Following the strike, the crew abandoned the ship, and coalition warships have since responded and are currently assessing the situation.
The Central Command reported that this is the fifth ASBM fired by Houthis in just two days. Two of the five missiles hit two shipping vessels, M/V MSC Sky II and M/V True Confidence, while USS Carney (DDG 64) shot down another ASBM.
“These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs, which are some of the hardest jobs in the world, and the ones relied on by the global public for sustainment of supply chains,” the US Central Command said.
In another statement issued on march 6, the Command said it conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and UST Navy ships in the region.
These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels.
