US Navy helicopters sank three Houthi rebel ships in Yemen that they had attacked a container ship in the Red Sea, the army announced this Sunday. Two sources in the Yemeni port of Hodeida, controlled by the Houthis, reported the death of at least ten fighters in the bombing of the boats.
After the Houthis fired at the American helicopters, they “responded in legitimate defense, sinking three of the four small ships, and killing the crew,” said the United States Central Command in the Middle East (CENTCOM) in a statement, specifying that the fourth ship “fled the area.”
LOOK: The United States says it has shot down 12 drones and 5 more missiles in the Red Sea
The US Navy, the source indicated, was responding to a request for assistance from the “Maersk Hangzhou”, a container ship flying the flag of Singaporebelonging to Denmark and exploited by that country, which said it was attacked for the second time in 24 years while sailing through the Red Sea.
The ship had already been the target of two ballistic missiles launched from Yemeni territory controlled by the Houthis.which the US military shot down.
Since the conflict began between Israel and Hamas After the deadly attack committed by the Palestinian Islamist movement in Israeli territory on October 7, the Houthis They have attacked ships in the Red Sea on several occasions, claiming to do so in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Those attackswhich occur on an important commercial transit route, led to USA to launch at the beginning of the month a multinational naval force to protect ships sailing through the Red Sea.
Just after the announcement of USA, the danish company Maersk announced that it was suspending the transit of its ships through the Red Sea for 48 hours.
