4 crew members killed after Houthi attack on commercial vessel in Bab al-Mandeb

Four crew members were killed and four others wounded Tuesday after Yemen’s Houthi group attacked a commercial vessel carrying food supplies in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Yemeni Ministry of Transportation said, Anadolu reports.

A ministry statement said the Yemeni-flagged vessel Tihamah was struck three times by ballistic missiles while sailing through the strategic waterway, setting the ship on fire and causing material damage.

The dead included three Pakistani crew members and one Indonesian sailor, while four others were wounded, the ministry said. A member of the rescue team was also injured.

The ministry said Houthi forces fired another missile at the vessel as rescue teams were attempting to reach the crew in an attempt to disrupt the rescue operation and cause further casualties.

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It condemned the Houthi attack as a “terrorist crime,” saying it threatens the safety of maritime navigation and international trade.

The ministry said the targeting of the vessel, which was carrying food supplies, was part of “an escalating Houthi campaign targeting ports, civilian infrastructure in government-controlled areas and commercial vessels serving those areas.”

It warned that such attacks pose a direct threat to food and consumer-goods supplies for millions of Yemenis in both government-controlled areas and territory held by the Houthis.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the attack.

​​​​​​​Bab al-Mandeb is the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

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