The US Mission to Yemen reported that the Houthi militia has taken some crew members hostage after attacking the Liberian-flagged cargo ship, Eternity C, in the Red Sea. At least two crew members were killed in the attack, according to Liberian officials.
Houthi military spokesman, Yahya al-Sarea, claimed the attack was due to the ship's alleged course to an Israeli port, using cruise and ballistic missiles. The claim was not independently verified by The New York Times.
Al-Sarea stated that after the attack, the Houthis rescued some crew members, providing medical care and transporting them to a safe location. The number of crew members involved, their location, and the timing of their release remain undisclosed. The Houthis previously held the crew of the Galaxy Leader hostage for over a year in 2023.
The US Embassy in Yemen called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages.
A senior Houthi political official, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, declined to comment on the details of the attack, but emphasized the group's concern for the safety of sailors. The Houthi statement omitted mentioning the crew members who were killed during the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi militia has taken hostage some of the crew members of a cargo ship they attacked earlier this week, the U.S. Mission to Yemen said on Wednesday on social media. The move is an escalation of a conflict that has already disrupted global shipping.
“We call for their immediate and unconditional safe release,” the Embassy’s statement said.
The Houthi attack on Monday on the Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged vessel that was sailing through the Red Sea, killed at least two of its crew members, according to Liberian officials who spoke to a United Nations meeting on Tuesday.
A Houthi military spokesman, Yahya al-Sarea, said in a statement on Wednesday that the militia had attacked the ship with cruise and ballistic missiles because it was headed to an Israeli port. The Times could not independently confirm the ship’s destination.
Mr. al-Sarea said that after the attack, the group “responded to rescue a number of the ship’s crew, provide them with medical care and transport them to a safe location.”
He did not specify how many crew members the Houthis had transported, where they were taken or when they would be released. In 2023, the militia seized a ship called the Galaxy Leader and held its crew hostage for more than a year.
The Houthi statement also did not mention the crew members who were killed.
On Tuesday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi political official, declined to comment on the attack but told the Times that the group “cares about the safety of sailors.”
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