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A small cargo ship was attacked on Tuesday by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, killing four crew members, according to two Yemeni coast guard sources and two military officials in the government.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said it had been informed that a cargo vessel off the coast of al-Mokha, Yemen, had been hit by an unknown projectile, resulting in casualties.
British maritime security company Ambrey said the ship was reportedly targeted and damaged by the Houthis, killing three crew members, while at anchor 3.3 nautical miles northeast of Perim Island, Yemen.
Three Pakistanis and one Indonesian person were killed as the ship sailed from Salalah in Oman via Djibouti, the Yemeni sources said. The Yemeni government's transport ministry said four other crew members were injured, as well as a member of the rescue team.
After the attack, the crew lost control of the ship and were approached by Yemeni coast guard, they added.
The Houthis have not yet claimed Tuesday's attack.
If confirmed, the fatalities on the Tanzania-flagged Tihamah would be the first deaths in a Houthi strike on a ship since the Middle East conflict was triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February.
A cargo vessel was struck by an unknown projectile off Al Mokha, Yemen, in the southern Red Sea. Casualties reported, per UKMTO. pic.twitter.com/x7tTOLBPvb
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 11, 2026
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to what they described as a Saudi siege. Riyadh denies that it besieged them. Attacks on ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have increased uncertainty for shipping companies already hobbled by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
An average of 32 ships per day passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait last week, Kpler data showed. Prior to the recent conflict an average of 50 ships per day transited the strait.
Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels also carried out strikes on the Yemeni government-held port city of Mokha on the Red Sea and other areas of the country.
Yemen's military said the rebels targeted Mokha and the central province of Marib with missiles and drones, but did not provide further details.
The Houthis struck Marib and the eastern province of Hadramout last week, killing dozens of government troops and civilians. They hit Mokha with missiles and drones over the weekend and killed at least seven people, including three troops, according to the Yemeni military.
Mokha is a main port under Yemen’s internationally recognized government and has been renovated to handle shipping to avoid the Houthi-held port of Hodeida.
The strikes were part of an escalation by the Houthis against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, as well as the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait at Yemen's southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil.
The Houthi attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, accused Saudi Arabia in a social media post of exploiting the ceasefire to tighten an air and sea blockade it imposed in 2015.
He said the Houthis are open for negotiations but any settlement must include lifting the blockade.
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