US-UK forces launched strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah and Kamaran Island, Houthi-run TV says
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Sailors assist distressed mariners rescued from the bulk carrier M/V Tutor that was attacked by Houthis, in the Red Sea, on June 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ADEN - American and British forces have carried out at least six air strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the Port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said on June 17.
The strikes on Kamaran mark the first time US-led coalition forces have targeted the island since air strikes on Houthi targets began in early February.
They follow the Iran-backed Houthis’ first successful armed maritime drone strike and other missile assaults that damaged the Tutor and Verbena cargo ships last week. Both vessels are abandoned and adrift – with the Tutor at risk of sinking, military and security experts said.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In that time, they have sunk one ship, seized another vessel and killed three sailors in separate attacks.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government believes Houthi fighters in the past have used Kamaran Island and the Port of Salif as launch sites for attacks on ships, military sources within the government told Reuters. Salt mines in those areas have also been used to hide stockpiles of missiles and drones, the sources said.
The 10km stretch of water from the Port of Salif to Kamaran Island is also part of the route that ships must transit to reach their next port of call.
Military and security officials said the Liberian-flagged Tutor has been taking on water since the Houthis hit it with an armed boat drone and missiles on June 12 in the Red Sea. That attack damaged the Tutor’s engine room and caused severe flooding.
Rescuers from the US Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group have airlifted the Tutor’s crew to safety. One sailor remains missing.
US Central Command (Centcom) separately said crew members from the Palau-flagged Verbena issued a distress call last weekend due to uncontrolled fires sparked by two Houthi missile strikes in the Gulf of Aden on June 13.
The Cayman Islands-flagged Anna-Meta wheat carrier rescued Verbena’s crew and is transporting them to safety, Centcom said.
Despite reprisals from the US-British coalition and other navies, the Houthis have escalated their campaign against commercial vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Their missile and drone attacks have forced ship owners to reroute vessels away from the vital Suez Canal shortcut – sending costs and delays cascading through the vital ocean shipping industry that transports about 80 per cent of international trade. REUTERS
