The Iranian-supported Houthis carried out an attack in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday that killed multiple crew members on a commercial shipping vessel, representing the first fatalities the rebels have been responsible for since their attacks in the Red Sea began last November.
The Houthis fired a ballistic missile that struck the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, Yemen, and it left at least two people dead, according to CNN. The crew abandoned the vessel, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency.
“So today, the Houthis have killed innocent civilians by continuing their reckless attacks against international commercial shipping, which impacts countries throughout the world,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “We offer our condolences obviously to the families of those who lost their lives and again condemn the Houthis for these attacks.”
Houthi militants have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks against commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea for months, though there had been no known casualties in those attacks until Wednesday.
The United States set up a defensive coalition with more than a dozen partners to protect commercial vessels transiting the waterways off Yemen’s coasts, and separately, they have carried out multiple iterations of solo and joint airstrikes with the United Kingdom.
“We know that the Houthis maintain a large arsenal,” Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters in late February. “They are very capable. They have sophisticated weapons, and that’s because they continue to get them from Iran.”
From the start of the U.S. military strikes on Jan. 11, American forces have destroyed or degraded more than 100 missiles and launchers, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Feb. 8, including anti-ship land attack and surface-to-air missiles, plus numerous communication capabilities, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, coastal radars, air surveillance capabilities, and weapon storage areas.
Last month, a Houthi attack hit the M/V Rubymar, and the ship ultimately sank in the Red Sea on Saturday. The ship was carrying approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer, which poses an environmental risk, according to U.S. Central Command.
In November 2023, the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader and held its roughly 25-person crew hostage. The members’ well-being is still unknown.
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The Houthis’ attacks have forced commercial shipping companies to consider, and some have, whether to have their ships embark on longer journeys that keep them away from the Yemeni rebels.
Houthi leaders have attributed their attacks as a response to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, though U.S. officials are quick to point out that the ships they have attacked are often not connected with the U.S. or Israel and are in violation of international law.
