Yemen | US shoots down Houthi drones, demands release of humanitarian workers

(Washington) The US military announced Thursday evening that it had “destroyed” four unmanned boats and two Houthi drones, and Washington called on the Yemeni rebels to release aid workers arrested earlier this month.

In a statement, the US Army Middle East Command (Centcom) said it had destroyed these Houthi boats and drones in the Red Sea in operations which caused “no injuries” on their side.

The day before, Centcom had indicated that it had struck two Houthi sites in Yemen, including a command center, after a series of attacks by these Yemeni rebels against ships circulating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The M/V Tutor, a Greek ship flying the Liberian flag, was struck on June 12 by a maritime drone and a Houthi missile before sinking in the Red Sea. And another cargo ship hit by rebel-fired missiles, the M/V Verbena, was abandoned in the Gulf of Aden by its crew.

“The United States condemns the Houthis’ recent reckless and indiscriminate attacks on civilian vessels, including the deliberate attacks on the M/V Tutor, which sank earlier this week, and the M/V Verbena, which is abandoned and adrift in the Red Sea […],” commented US Foreign Ministry spokesman Matthew Miller.

Attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, key maritime areas for global trade, have sent insurance costs soaring and prompted many shipping companies to sail through the southern tip of Africa , a much longer path.

In addition to attacks on ships, the Houthis have recently arrested more than a dozen aid workers, including UN employees, accusing them of being part of a “US-Israeli spy ring.”  

“We once again call on the Houthis to release all detainees, including UN staff, NGOs and diplomats arrested earlier this month,” Miller added in a statement, calling it “a odious” these arrests.

The Houthis, members of the “Axis of Resistance”, a grouping of movements supported by Iran and which includes the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, have for months carried out attacks off the coast of Yemen against ships serving, according to them, Israel, saying it was acting in support of the Gaza Strip being bombed by the Israeli army.