By Zehra Nur Duz
The embassies of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US in Yemen issued a joint statement Wednesday reiterating their condemnation of the attacks by the Houthi group on vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The embassies said they are “deeply concerned” over a Houthi attack last week on the bulk carrier M/V True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden that killed three crew members.
“The deaths of at least 2 Filipino and 1 Vietnamese sailors is the inevitable consequence of the Houthis’ indiscriminate and reckless attacks on international merchant vessels,” the British Embassy in Sanaa said in a statement on X.
The statement urged the Houthis to immediately cease the attacks, saying “these illegal attacks only serve to destabilize the region and harm the people of Yemen.”
Four others were also injured on March 7 when an anti-ship ballistic missile struck the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while it was transiting the Gulf of Aden, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
The Houthis confirmed that they targeted the ship with missiles after it refused to heed their warnings against crossing.
The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated or heading to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under a devastating Israeli offensive since last October.
With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.