A satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, July 12, 2026. Nasa Worldview/Handout via REUTERS
Four crew members were killed and four others wounded on Tuesday after the Houthis attacked a commercial vessel carrying food supplies in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Yemeni Ministry of Transportation said.
The dead included three Pakistani crew members and one Indonesian sailor, while four others were wounded, the ministry said. A member of the rescue team was also injured.
A ministry statement said the Yemeni-flagged vessel Tihamah was struck three times by ballistic missiles while sailing through the strategic waterway, setting the ship on fire and causing material damage.
The ministry said Houthi forces fired another missile at the vessel as rescue teams were attempting to reach the crew in an attempt to disrupt the rescue operation and cause further casualties.
It condemned the Houthi attack as a “terrorist crime”, saying it threatened the safety of maritime navigation and international trade.
The ministry said the targeting of the vessel, which was carrying food supplies, was part of “an escalating Houthi campaign targeting ports, civilian infrastructure in government-controlled areas and commercial vessels serving those areas”.
It warned that such attacks posed a direct threat to food and consumer-goods supplies for millions of Yemenis in both government-controlled areas and territory held by the Houthis.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the attack.
Bab al-Mandeb is the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemeni sources added that after the attack, the crew lost control of the vessel and were approached by the Yemeni coastguard.
The Yemeni forces then came under fire, UK maritime risk management group Vanguard said.
The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20 in response to what they described as a Saudi siege. Riyadh denies that Yemen is under siege.
The ship was hit by an unknown projectile, according to a report received by the British Navy-affiliated agency UK Maritime Trade Operations.
The incident occurred while the ship was at anchor northeast of Perim Island, Yemen, British maritime security group Ambrey said.
Shipping traffic
Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Red Sea has fallen by more than 50% since an earlier wave of Houthi attacks on shipping in 2023-25.
They have fallen further since the Houthis announced their blockade last month, with an average of 32 ships per day passing through the strait last week, according to Kpler data, down from an average of 50 before the blockade.
Ambrey noted that the cargo ship, which sources said was the Tihamah, was not Saudi-owned or operated and that it had departed the Yemeni government-held port of al-Mokha on Saturday.
Also Read: 4th Pakistani killed by missile debris in UAE
LSEG data lists Egyptian companies as owners and managers of the ship. Neither responded to Reuters emails and phone calls seeking immediate comment.
Traffic is even more disrupted in the Strait of Hormuz, with just six passing through on Monday, down from a 10-day average of about 11 and prewar levels of some 130 to 140.
This is not the first such case involving Pakistanis caught in the fallout from the widening conflict. On Feb 28, a Pakistani national was killed during the interception of an Iranian missile. A second Pakistani was later killed in Dubai’s Al Barsha area on Mar 8, followed by the third fatality in Abu Dhabi’s Bani Yas area on Mar 17. On March 27, a fourth Pakistani national was killed in Abu Dhabi’s Sweihan Street area after debris from an intercepted missile fell in the city.
