Pakistan’s foreign minister has said three of its citizens were killed and one more wounded in a Houthi militia attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea. The deaths would mark the first fatalities in the Red Sea since the Yemen-based and Iran-backed Houthis declared a blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on July 20. They also follow Pakistan’s signing of a mutual defense treaty with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, as the Middle East conflict threatens to widen. “Pakistan strongly condemns the Houthi attack on a non-combatant commercial vessel,” Ishaq Dar wrote in Yemen’s internationally recognized government previously accused the Houthis of killing four crew members and two rescuers in a “double whammy” attack on a Saudi-owned ship sailing through the strait. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack through the group’s Saba news agency on Tuesday, saying the ship was carrying military equipment. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to the claim. The group warned last month that it would attack any Saudi shipping attempting to transit the strait, in response to a long-standing Saudi blockade against the group, which controls much of northern Yemen. Signed earlier this month, the mutual defense pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey stipulates that an attack on any of them “shall be considered an attack on all of them.” Speaking to reporters during a briefing on Wednesday, Tahir Andrabi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, said that as a signatory to the agreement, the country is “ready and willing to help Saudi Arabia and other coalition partners preserve the security of maritime traffic.” Andrabi said Pakistan is in touch with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to seek more information about the attack.
