The attack, which Yemen’s Houthi rebels believed to have been responsible for sinking the bulk carrier Red Sea, claimed the life of a Filipino crew member. This is the second ship sunk by Iran-backed Houthis who block Shipments through strategic sea lanes during their maritime corridor movementthough ongoing US lead military operations in areas already seen navy Engage in fierce naval battles unprecedented since World War II.
The Greek-owned and operated Tutor, which flew under Liberian flag sank in Red Sea; authorities reported that debris from marine was found there as well as oil. In acknowledging the incident, Houthi militants referred to foreign media reports controlled by them. The United States military has not officially declared any sinkings or responded to request for clarification.
A week ago Mentor was bombed by a drone with a bomb dropped by a Houthi killing her Filipino crew members. The use of bombing ships has raised concerns just like at the time when USS Cole was attacked by Al-Qaida in 2000. The aircraft carrier led the effort with the objective of stopping an attack from Houthis.
Since November alone, there have been over 60 attacks on specific vessels launched by Houthis including missile and drone strikes, capture of one ship and sinking of two others involved in shipping activities. The United States together with its allies carry air raids against houthis mouvement; this has resulted to high casualties with opposition claiming that only last month an airstrike in March killed at least 16 people and injured 42 more.
However, despite some targeted boats being unrelated or uninvolved to Israel Hamas conflict at Gaza region these houthis say that they are mainly striking ships associated with Israel America or Britain. Since then 37k Palestinians have dead due to escalation between Israel and Palestine while other few hundred have perished during Israeli operation on West bank.
A US defence intelligence agency report says that maritime traffic on Red Sea it is down almost ninety percent since December with a fall in container traffic. The corridor represents an essential route for 15% of the world’s sea borne commerce.
In some related information, Houthi armed forces said that a US led air strike had hit Rema province, which is controlled by rebels in Yemen and destroyed a building occupied by a local radio station. Another attack a week before left two persons dead and nine wounded but the nationalities of these casualties were not mentioned by fighters. In 2019, eight Houthi drones loaded with explosives were downed by US Central Command. There was another flight over the Gulf of Aden in the past day over Yemen.
