ALBAWABA- Six people were killed and 10 others injured on Tuesday after Houthi forces launched multiple missile strikes on the commercial vessel Tihama while it was sailing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to the Yemeni Coast Guard.
The dead included four crew members—three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian—and two members of the Second Naval Brigade of the Yemeni armed forces. The 10 injured comprised seven crew members, two Coast Guard personnel and one Second Naval Brigade member.
The vessel, carrying food supplies and 11 Pakistani and Indonesian sailors, was struck repeatedly, causing a fire and extensive damage. Coast Guard units and military rescue teams evacuated the dead and injured and rescued several crew members.
A further missile was reportedly fired at the vessel while rescue operations were underway, apparently targeting the responding teams and causing additional casualties.
About three hours after the initial attack, Yemeni forces detected a remotely operated, explosives-laden boat approaching the vessel. Coast Guard and armed forces units intercepted and destroyed the boat before it reached the ship.
Yemen’s Ministry of Transportation condemned the attack as a “terrorist crime,” saying the Tihama was hit by three successive ballistic missiles in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The ministry said the attack caused deaths, injuries and significant material damage and that another missile was launched during the rescue operation.
The attack came amid renewed Houthi military activity along Yemen’s western coast, where government forces reported a barrage involving 10 missiles and four drones against military positions.
The strike represents a further escalation against commercial shipping in the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab and Red Sea, where attacks have continued to threaten maritime traffic and regional trade routes.
