10 Houthi fighters killed by U.S. Navy forces in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi group said Sunday that 10 of its fighters were killed by U.S. naval forces in the Red Sea while they were trying to hijack a commercial ship in international waters.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast live by the group's al-Masirah TV that the U.S. forces attacked three boats belonging to the Houthi rebels.

He said the rebels were "performing their humanitarian and moral duty" to prevent Israel-related ships from passing through the Red Sea, "in solidarity and support for the Palestinian people."

The spokesman said the U.S. "bears the consequences of this crime," and that the "military movements in the Red Sea to protect Israeli ships will not prevent Yemen (Houthi militia) from performing its humanitarian duty in support of Palestine and Gaza."

The Houthi official also stated that the rebel group targeted the cargo ship "with appropriate naval missiles," without saying whether the missiles hit the target.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Central Command said its naval forces responded to a distress call from a merchant boat in the Red Sea reporting being under a Houthi attack, sinking three Houthi boats and killing all their crews._Agencies.