American navy helicopters got here below fireplace from Iranian-backed Houthi fighters within the Purple Sea on Sunday morning and shot again, sinking three Houthi boats and killing these aboard, U.S. Central Command mentioned.

The episode occurred after a business container ship was attacked by Houthi fighters in small boats and issued a misery name, prompting U.S. Navy helicopters to reply, the navy mentioned.

“Within the strategy of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew-served weapons and small arms,” Central Command mentioned in a press release on social media. “The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fireplace in self-defense, sinking three of the 4 small boats, and killing the crews.”

It was the newest and maybe deadliest such incident involving the Houthis, who management a big swath of northern Yemen, since Israel went to battle with Hamas on Oct. 7.

In solidarity with Hamas, which can also be backed by Iran, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone assaults in opposition to business ships and seized an Israeli-linked vessel. The assaults have prompted america and allies to deploy warships to the Purple Sea, which is essential for world transport.

In early December, the united statesS. Carney destroyer shot down three drones throughout a sustained Houthi assault on business ships within the Purple Sea, the Pentagon mentioned. The U.S. navy has not struck instantly on the Houthis in Yemen, cautious of an escalation that might trigger the battle in Gaza to additional inflame the Center East.

The incident on Sunday concerned a container ship operated by the transport big Maersk, which was transiting the southern Purple Sea when it got here below assault by Houthis, in line with statements by Central Command and by Maersk.

The container ship, the Maersk Hangzhou, reported that it had been struck by a missile at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, when it was about 55 nautical miles southwest of Hudaydah, Yemen. The crew “noticed a flash on the deck,” Maersk mentioned in an emailed assertion.

Two American vessels responded to the ship’s misery name, and one in all them, the united statesS. Gravely, a destroyer, “shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen towards the ships,” Central Command mentioned on social media.

No accidents had been reported, and Maersk mentioned that its vessel had continued its journey north.

Then, on Sunday morning, 4 small boats piloted by Houthis attacked the Maersk ship, attending to inside about 20 yards of the vessel, and tried to board it, Central Command mentioned in its subsequent assertion. It mentioned that safety officers had opened fireplace from the container vessel, which issued one other misery name, and that U.S. helicopters from the Gravely and the united statesS. Eisenhower, an plane provider, flew to the scene, the place they got here below fireplace from the Houthis.

The U.S. navy didn’t point out the way it knew that the crew members of the three boats it sank had died. The fourth boat fled the realm, Central Command mentioned, including that no U.S. personnel had been harmed or tools broken within the episode.

The conflict got here simply days after Maersk mentioned that it was resuming voyages by way of the Purple Sea and the Suez Canal. For a few week earlier than that announcement, the corporate’s ships had been avoiding the realm due to security considerations.

On Sunday, Maersk mentioned in an emailed assertion that it could pause “all transits by way of the realm for the following 48 hours” because it investigates the assault and assesses safety within the waterway. The crew of the Maersk Hangzhou, which was touring from Singapore to Port Suez, was protected, the corporate mentioned.

The assault was the twenty third by the Houthis in about six weeks, in line with america. The incidents have prompted some firms to keep away from the Purple Sea, rerouting their vessels across the Cape of Good Hope, pushing up transport charges even because the longer voyages improve delays.

There was no instant assertion on the incident from the Houthis.

America introduced this month that it had arrange a naval activity drive to strive to make sure protected passage for business ships within the Purple Sea. The members of the safety initiative, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, embrace Bahrain, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands.