US Navy stops hijacking of Israeli tanker USA: man shoots three young Palestinians and flees

The US military says it has arrested five people who attacked a tanker off the coast of Yemen. As the responsible regional command of the US military announced early Monday morning, the crew and ship are safe.

The US Navy responded to a distress call from the merchant ship “Central Park”. When American troops arrived at the ship, five armed people left the ship and tried to escape on a small boat. They were pursued, “which ultimately led to their surrender,” the US military said. The “Central Park” is part of the Zodiac Maritime company, which is led by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.

Yemen blames the Houthi rebels

According to the regional command, two ballistic missiles were fired in the early morning hours from areas controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen at the location of the ‘Central Park’ and that of the US ship. The missiles landed about 10 nautical miles from the ships. No damage or injuries were reported.

The Yemeni government blamed Iran-allied Houthi rebels for the attack on the ‘Central Park’ tanker. The Houthi rebels, who took control of the capital Sanaa and other parts of Yemen in 2014, have not yet commented. In previous statements they had stated that they would attack any Israeli ship as long as the war in Gaza continued.

Just over a week ago, rebels hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen and took several hostages. The Houthis then announced that they had hijacked an Israeli ship due to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media, it was a cargo ship partly owned by British-Israeli businessman Rami Ungar. (sda/dpa)