Houthi Red Sea attack kills six

On August 11-12, 2026, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked the Egyptian-owned cargo vessel Yemen — Tihamah in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, killing six people including four crew members (three Pakistanis and one Indonesian) and two rescuers from the Yemeni National Resistance. The Houthis fired three ballistic missiles, with a second strike hitting as rescue efforts were underway. This was the first fatal Houthi attack on shipping since the Iran war began on February 28. Separately, U.S. Central Command disabled the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova in the Gulf of Oman with Hellfire missiles after it ignored warnings to stop violating the blockade on Iranian ports. Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaee reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless the U.S. accepts Iran's conditions, including releasing frozen assets and ending regional conflicts. The attacks have reduced shipping traffic through the Bab-el-Mandeb and Red Sea by over 50%, and through the Strait of Hormuz to just six ships per day. The escalation threatens to reignite Yemen's civil war and open a new front in the Middle East conflict, with oil prices rising and global shares retreating.