By Al-Fassel | 2024-03-13

ADEN -- The Iran-backed Houthis have continued to fire missiles at merchant vessels in the Red Sea even after they killed three civilian crew members in a March 6 attack that has drawn fierce condemnation in Yemen.

Four other crew members were wounded in the attack, which caused "significant damage to the ship," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

The Houthis have been targeting merchant vessels transiting the Red Sea trade route for months, but the deaths aboard the Barbadian-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence were the first reported fatalities from such an attack.

But given the indiscriminate nature of the Houthis' attacks, and their continued targeting of commercial vessels, it was only a matter of time before civilian lives were lost, Yemenis told Al-Fassel.

Inevitably, more blood will spill someday, they warned, noting that in a March 12 statement claiming an attack on the Pinocchio, another freighter, the Houthis threatened to escalate "military operations" during the month of Ramadan.

'Illegal' killing of sailors

The Yemeni government condemned the attack on True Confidence from the first moment, and has denounced the Houthis' attacks since they first started targeting merchant vessels, said Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi.

"The killing of the sailors is unquestionably an illegal act," he told Al-Fassel.

The killing of the three sailors is reprehensible, as they were civilians, said former Environmental Protection Authority chairman Abdul Qader al-Kharraz.

Attacks that kill or injure civilian sailors are "a very serious issue that has serious repercussions and does not serve Yemen," he told Al-Fassel.

The Houthis' terrorist attack on True Confidence "targeted civilians who had nothing to do with what is happening in Gaza or elsewhere," said Fahmi al-Zubairi, director general of the human rights office in Sanaa.

The Houthis' actions in the Red Sea threaten international safety, maritime navigation and Yemen's security and stability, he told Al-Fassel.

Sailors aboard merchant vessels "are civilians and do not participate in combat operations and do not carry weapons," he said.

'No regard for well-being of civilians'

The Indian navy said it rescued 21 crew members from the True Confidence, winching eight people to safety by helicopter while others were evacuated to hospitals in Dijbouti.

The Philippine government's Department of Migrant Workers said two of the crew members killed were Filipinos and two other Filipinos were "severely injured."

In a post on social media, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted True Confidence with multiple missiles "after the ship's crew rejected warning messages" from the Houthis, AFP reported.

Before it was attacked, maritime security firm Ambrey said, the vessel had been contacted "by an entity declaring itself to be the 'Yemeni Navy,'" a title adopted by the Houthis.

"The Houthis have continued to launch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well-being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a March 6 briefing.

"And now they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians," he said, adding that "the United States will continue to hold the Houthis accountable for their attacks" and call on governments around the world to do the same.

"The Houthis' indiscriminate attack on MV True Confidence shows their absolute disregard for the lives of international mariners," British defense secretary Grant Shapps said on X.

The British embassy in Sanaa described the loss of life as "the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping."

The fatalities came just days after Belizean-flagged, British-registered and Lebanese-operated ship MV Rubymar sank on March 2 after being attacked by Houthi missiles on February 18.

"I believe that the killing of civilian sailors and the sinking of the British ship are just the beginning," said Abaad Center for Strategic Studies director Abdul Salam Mohammed, warning that the Houthis may become more aggressive.

Merchant vessels are being targeted and sailors killed "in global trade corridors, which are safeguarded and protected by international law," he told Al-Fassel, adding that the Houthis should be held to account for their actions.

[Faisal Abu Bakr contributed to this report from Aden.]