Washington, United States– The United States on Wednesday vowed to hold Yemen’s Houthi rebels accountable for a strike on a bulk carrier that killed two people, apparently the first fatalities in the insurgents’ attacks on shipping.
“We will continue to hold them accountable. We call on governments around the world to do the same,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
The Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen and are backed by Iran, have been defiantly hitting ships in vital commercial waters in professed solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel pounds Hamas-ruled Gaza in response to the October 7 attack.
The Houthi ship strikes “have not just disrupted international commerce, not just disrupted the freedom of navigation in international waters, and not just endangered seafarers, but now tragically killed a number of them,” Miller said.
Asked if the latest attack showed a failure of the US and UK strikes on the Houthis, Miller said, “We have always made clear that this is going to be a long-term process, both to deter the Houthi attacks and to degrade their capabilities to carry them out.”
He said that the United States was also encouraging other countries to make clear to the Houthis that “these attacks are irresponsible.”