Houthis kill three in first deadly attack since start of Iran war - reports

Three people were killed in a Houthi attack on a cargo vessel in the Red Sea, marking the first deadly strike since the onset of the Iran‑related conflict, according to reports. The vessel was struck by a projectile south of the Yemeni port of Mocha, causing casualties, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre said. Yemen’s Houthis, who are allied to Iran and receive Tehran’s full support, began attacks on shipping in the past period and announced a naval blockade of Saudi ports. The struggle in the region has been ongoing since the end of February, punctuated by a faltering ceasefire that was intended to lead to a deal to end the war. The fighting has heightened tensions, with the Houthis also targeting Saudi tankers and oil facilities in the Red Sea, parallel to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz—the vital waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transit. The attack came after a years‑long truce in Yemen’s civilian war between the Houthis and the Saudi‑backed internationally recognised government collapsed last month. Social‑media images examined by BBC Verify appear to show a damaged cargo vessel in the Bab al‑Mandab Strait, which sits at the inlet of the Red Sea off the Yemeni coast. Reports from Yemeni media indicate that two of those killed were crew members aboard the ship, including one Pakistani and one Indonesian. A Yemeni authority vessel that subsequently went to assist came under fire, resulting in an additional casualty whose nationality is unknown. Close‑up pictures identify the ship as Tihamah; according to ship‑tracking platform MarineTraffic, the vessel is sailing under the Tanzanian flag off Warner Point in the Red Sea. The pictures, which were shared by Iran’s semi‑official Mehr news agency, have been verified as recent and contain no signs of AI generation.