US sinks three ships in Red Sea, kills 10 Houthi rebels | the world

The US military said on Sunday (31) that it had sunk three Houthi rebel boats, killing 10 people, in response to an attack on a cargo ship owned by a Danish shipping company.

Rebels spokesman Yahya Saree said on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that ten members had died in “an attack by US enemy forces against three Yemeni naval vessels”.

Ten rebels were killed and two wounded in a US strike on Houthi ships trying to intercept a boat in the sea off Hodeidah in Yemen, a port source said earlier.

The injured were rescued and taken to hospital, and four others survived.

According to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle East, the Houthis fired at US helicopters, and they responded defensively, sinking three of four small vessels.

The US Navy responded to a request for assistance from the Danish-owned and operated Singapore-flagged cargo ship “Maersk Hangzhou”, which it said had been attacked for the second time in 24 hours while traveling through the Red Sea.

The ship had already been the target of two missiles launched from Houthi-held Yemen, which the US military destroyed.

The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea on several occasions since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, following the Palestinian Islamist movement's deadly attack on Israeli territory on October 7, and said they were doing so in support. of Palestinians in Gaza. .

The attacks, which occur on a vital trade route, led the United States to deploy a multinational naval force earlier in the month to protect ships transiting the Red Sea.

After the US announcement, the Danish company Maersk said it would suspend the transit of its vessels through the Red Sea for 48 hours.