Yemen: New Attacks by Houthi Include Likely War Crimes

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Click to expand Image The navigation bridge of a sunken vessel in the Port of Mokha, Yemen, the day after an attack by the Houthis on the city, August 10, 2026. © 2026 Khaled Ziad/AFP via Getty Images (Beirut) – The Houthis' latest attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden most likely amount to war crimes in at least three cases, Human Rights Watch said today. The new attacks targeted at least two Saudi-flagged vessels, a Tanzania-flagged vessel, and a Dominica-flagged vessel.

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• The attacks follow the Houthis' announcement on July 20, 2026, that they would impose a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, in response to what they claimed is a Saudi sea and air blockade on Yemen, where the...
• "The Houthis are once again putting seafarers' lives at deadly risk through their attacks on commercial ships, this time as part of their hostilities with the Saudi-led coalition," said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen...
• "Whatever the geopolitics, attacks on civilian crews carried out deliberately or recklessly are war crimes." Click to expand Image Graphic © 2026 Human Rights Watch As of August 24, the Houthis claimed that...
• Attacks on civilians or civilian objects committed recklessly or with deliberate intent constitute war crimes.
• Saudi and Yemeni authorities, a shipping company, and a ship's master confirmed four of these attacks: