Houthis attack cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing six including Pakistani sailors

Ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis struck a cargo ship in the Red Sea, south of the port of Mocha, killing six and wounding ten. This is the first deadly attack by the Yemeni group against a vessel since the start of the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.

The internationally recognized Yemeni government announced that three ballistic missiles had struck the ship, causing a fire on board. Four crew members died in the initial attack, including three Pakistanis and one Indonesian. The Yemeni coast guard later reported a second deadly strike, this time targeting rescue workers who had come to evacuate the vessel, injuring three more.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, stating they had targeted a ship carrying Saudi military equipment. The government in Sana'a described the vessel as a Yemeni cargo ship loaded with food supplies and denounced the attack as a deliberate escalation. Iranian media outlets described it as a ship "affiliated with Saudi Arabia."

The cargo ship, named Tihamah, is reportedly flying the Tanzanian flag according to the maritime risk management company Vanguard, while the MarineTraffic platform links it to an Egyptian shipowner. Images released by the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr, and verified as authentic, show the damaged vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the entrance to the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen.

This attack comes amid heightened regional tensions. The Houthis resumed their operations against maritime traffic last month, proclaiming a naval blockade of Saudi ports after the collapse of a multi-year truce in the Yemeni civil war. Meanwhile, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transited.

The conflict has lasted for more than five months, punctuated by a fragile ceasefire intended to pave the way for a peace agreement. The Houthis control a large part of northwestern Yemen, including the capital Sana'a, forcing the recognized government to operate from Aden in the south of the country.