"Lakota" attack off Hodeidah..Iran paved the way for the operation under false pretenses

English - Thursday 19 May 2022 الساعة 07:03 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:

 On Thursday, a cruise ship carrying foreigners was attacked, in the Red Sea, off the Hodeidah Governorate, in western Yemen.

The attack was carried out using 3 boats carrying armed men, and targeted a tourist (yacht) on its way from Djibouti to Panama.

The yacht that was attacked in the Red Sea bears the name "Lakota", and it was carrying foreigners, including two French nationals, and a security crew accompanying them, and it was flying the Hong Kong flag.

On Thursday, agencies quoted the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in the Middle East, as saying that it was aware of an "accident" in the Red Sea.

It is expected that this attack will negatively affect regional and international efforts to maintain the fragile truce between the Houthi militia and the Yemeni government.

 The incident is the latest attack at sea during the war, after the Houthi militia hacked the Emirati ship Rawabi last January.

 The attack came one day after the commander of the Iranian naval force, Shahram Irani, claimed that an Iranian ship was attacked by attacking boats in the Red Sea.

Fars news agency quoted an Iranian as saying that, "Iranian combat ships clashed, on Wednesday morning, with attacking boats that were trying to attack an Iranian ship in the Red Sea," according to his claim.

The commander of the Iranian navy blamed "pirates in international waters", an attempt by an "Iranian" to absolve the Houthi militia of responsibility for any upcoming attacks against global shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.