Representational photo
Washington: The Houthis are again on a rampage, attacking civilian ships in the Red Sea. This includes the deliberate attacks on the MV Tutor, which sunk earlier this week, and the MV Verbena, which is abandoned and adrift in the Red Sea, posing a navigational hazard to other maritime traffic.
The Houthis previously killed three seafarers aboard the MV True Confidence on March 6, 2024, and sank the MV Rubymar on March 2, 2024, posing a critical threat to Red Sea ecosystems.
The United States today condemned the latest “reckless and indiscriminate” attacks on civilian ships by the Houthis.
“Houthi attacks continue to hinder vital humanitarian assistance from reaching Yemenis and pose dire risks to economic and humanitarian conditions in countries across the Red Sea region and to the broader global economy,” the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, adding that these actions were a “clear failure” to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2722’s demand that the Houthis “immediately cease all such attacks”.
The US asserted that together with its partners, it will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea – a critical international waterway. It further vowed to safeguard vital economic and humanitarian assistance to countries in the region.
The United States also referred to the Houthis‘ detention of the United Nations staff and others recently.
“We once again call on the Houthis to release all detainees, including the United Nations, diplomatic, and non-governmental organization staff they detained earlier this month. The Houthis have employed disinformation to shift blame for these abhorrent detentions to outside actors to distract from their own recklessness. We will not rest until all detainees are released,” Miller said.
– global bihari bureau
