Bulk truck hit by missile from Yemen, crew says two dead

DUBAI:

A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels hit a cargo truck in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, with the crew reporting at least two dead and six injured, a US official said.

The Iran-backed Houthis target merchant ships passing through the vital Red Sea trade route and have struck ships with missiles and drones in the past, but the two deaths on Wednesday appear to be the first directly from an attack of the rebels.

“Today, the Houthis killed innocent civilians,” the defense official said, noting that the crew “report at least two dead and six injured crew members and have abandoned ship.”

The missile caused significant damage to the Liberian-owned Barbados-flagged M/V True Confidence, according to the official, who said it was the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in two days.

Two of them — including the last one — hit merchant ships and a third was shot down by a US destroyer, the official added.

The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported the attack on Wednesday, saying a Barbadian-flagged ship was “hit and damaged”, without elaborating on the strike.

Also read: Shadows over the Red Sea

“The vessel has been abandoned by the crew and is no longer under command,” the UKMTO added.

Marine safety company Ambrey had earlier said a rescue operation was underway and crew members were in lifeboats.

He warned other ships to steer clear of the US ship, which he said matched the Houthis’ “targeting profile”.

The rebels began harassing ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, a campaign they say is meant to signal solidarity with the Palestinians in the devastating Gaza war.

They have vowed to strike Israeli, British and American ships, as well as ships bound for Israeli ports, disrupting traffic through the vital trade route off the coast of Yemen.

Read: Yemen’s Houthi rebels escalate attacks in Red Sea, hit Trafigura fuel tanker

UKMTO said vessels near the US-owned bulk carrier reported “a loud bang and a large plume of smoke”.

Ambrey said the vessel was contacted by “an entity claiming to be the ‘Yemen Navy,'” a title adopted by the Houthi rebels.

The latest incident comes after an abandoned Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated ship sank with 21,000 metric tons of ammonium sulfate phosphate fertilizer on board.

The Rubymar had been taking on water since a Houthi missile strike on February 18 damaged its hull and forced the evacuation of its crew to Djibouti.

The flurry of Houthi strikes has caused many major shipping companies to suspend transit through the Red Sea, which normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.

The United States and Britain have launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen since January in response to the ship attacks.