US condemns Houthi attacks on cargo ships in Red Sea

WASHINGTON

The US condemned attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on two commercial cargo ships in the Red Sea which left three mariners dead and several others wounded.

“The United States condemns the unprovoked Houthi terror attacks on the civilian cargo vessels MV Magic Seas and MV Eternity C,” the State Department said Tuesday in a statement.

“These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” it added.

The Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier, was targeted late Monday in what the EU Naval Force described as a suspected Houthi attack. Another vessel, the Magic Seas, was also attacked over the weekend.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Monday that the Magic Seas vessel was targeted Sunday using “two unmanned boats, five ballistic and cruise missiles and three drones.”

The Houthis have been attacking ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade for what it said was a show of solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where over 57,500 people have been killed in an Israeli onslaught.