Navy helicopter evacuates sailor injured in Houthi attack in Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Aircraft from the USS Philippine Sea on Thursday medically evacuated a civilian sailor injured in a Houthi attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, U.S. authorities said.

The United States said on Thursday that the Iran-backed Houthis fired two anti-ship missiles and hit a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, setting the ship on fire and seriously injuring a civilian sailor.

US Central Command said the M/V Verbena was still ablaze and the sailor was flown by US helicopter on the USS Philippine Sea to another nearby ship for medical treatment.

A statement from the Central Command said the Verbena was a Palauan-flagged, Ukrainian-owned and Polish-operated bulk carrier that had docked in Malaysia and was en route to Italy, where it was carrying timber.

“The M/V Verbena reported damage and subsequent fires on board. The crew continues to battle the fire,” the statement said.

The attack is the latest of its kind in the Houthis’ campaign against the war between Israel and Hamas.

On Thursday morning, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKT) announced that a ship had been attacked and caught fire. And the private security company Ambrey reported that a merchant ship had radioed a distress call saying it had been hit by a missile.

The Houthis did not immediately admit to Thursday’s attacks, but it usually takes hours or even days for rebels to claim responsibility. The attack followed a Houthis bombing from a boat on a merchant ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday.

The Houthis, who seized the Yemeni capital nearly a decade ago and have recently been battling a Saudi-led coalition, are attacking shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor.

They say the aim of the attacks is to end the war and support the Palestinians. However, the attacks are often directed against ships that have nothing to do with the conflict.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have died in the war, according to Gaza health officials, while hundreds more have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

According to the US Maritime Administration, the Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on ships since November, killing three sailors, hijacking one ship and sinking another. Since January, the Houthis have been the target of a US-led airstrike campaign. In a series of attacks on May 30, at least 16 people were killed and 42 others injured, according to the rebels.

Also on Thursday, the Washington-based National Democratic Institute said three of its staff members were arrested by the Houthis earlier this month. Their detentions came alongside arrests of staff from UN agencies and aid groups amid the intensifying rebel crackdown.

“This arbitrary and inhumane treatment of Yemeni citizens engaged in humanitarian aid, diplomacy, democracy and human rights, peacemaking and civil society development is completely unfounded and must end immediately,” the institute said. It called for the “swift release of our staff and all those unjustly detained by the Houthi regime.”

The institute is a democracy promotion organization that has been active in Yemen since 1993. It receives funding from, among others, the US government.

Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.