DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthis targeted six ships in three different seas, including the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Laax that was damaged after reporting a Houthi missile attack off the coast of Yemen, the Iran-backed group said on Wednesday.
The Laax was attacked on Tuesday. The Houthis also launched attacks against the Morea and Sealady vessels in the Red Sea, the Alba and Maersk Hartford in the Arabian Sea and the Minvera Antonia in the Mediterranean, military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.
The Houthis, who describe their attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza, have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea region since November, later expanding to the Indian Ocean.
They promised to attack any ships sailing towards Israeli ports, even in the Mediterranean.
The group has managed to sink one ship, seized another vessel, killed two crew members and disrupted global shipping by forcing vessels to avoid the nearby Suez Canal and reroute trade around Africa.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Michael Georgy and Nick Macfie)
