Sanaa, Yemen.- Yemen’s Houthi rebels released a video of the hijacking of the Galaxy Leader ship in a military operation carried out on Sunday in the Red Sea, in which they used a helicopter to land on the ship and take it to the Yemeni coast.

The images, broadcast by Al Masira television, close to the Houthis, showed how a helicopter painted with the flag of Yemen and Palestine landed on the ship, on which a dozen masked fighters armed with assault rifles descended.

When inspecting the ship, the assailants entered the cockpit where there were about four crew members, who raised their arms without resisting when they were threatened at gunpoint.

After taking control of the ship, about five motorboats guarded the vessel to direct it to an unspecified Yemeni port, according to the images, which did not show scenes of shooting or explicit violence.

The Houthis announced on Sunday the capture of the ship, which they claimed belongs to Israel, and stated that these types of operations are only directed against Israeli-flagged or owned ships.

The Galaxy Leader cargo ship, which transported vehicles, is owned by a British company, but is operated by the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen (NYK Line), which has detailed that its crew was made up of 25 sailors of Bulgarian origin at the time of the seizure. , Ukrainian, Filipino, Mexican and Romanian.

The seized ship, which was heading from India to Turkey, was sailing under the flag of the Bahamas and would be partially owned by Israeli magnate Rami Unger, which would have triggered the operation.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported that there are two Mexicans among the kidnapped crew; The information was received through diplomatic channels and they are in contact with the Embassy in Saudi Arabia, which also represents the country in Yemen, to find out more details about the status of the crew members.

“Since this unfortunate fact became known, the Embassy of Mexico has taken steps through diplomatic channels to corroborate the situation of the crew and has had communication with representatives of embassies of other countries involved to obtain information and carry out steps. that lead to the release of the crew members who are on said vessel,” the statement details.

The Houthis assured that they will continue with similar operations “against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against the Gaza Strip ceases and the atrocious crimes that continue to this moment cease” both in the Palestinian enclave and in the West Bank.