Three people were killed in a Houthi attack against a civilian merchant ship, U.S. authorities said, marking the first lives claimed since the Iran-backed militant group began targeting the Red Sea shipping route at the end of last year. "With great sadness, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden," it said, withholding their names and identities. This is the first fatal Houthi attack since the group started maritime offensives against vessels transiting through the key Red Sea route that accounts for 12% of global traffic. On Saturday, the Belize-flagged general cargo ship Rubymar became the first casualty to sink in the Red Sea, after drifting abandoned at sea following a Houthi attack mid-February. In a separate incident earlier this week, four key telecommunications cables in the Red Sea were severed.

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Persons: Centcom, Houthi, Yahya Sare'e, Rubymar Organizations: Red, U.S . Central Command, Liberian, Philippines Department of Migrant Workers, Department of Migrant Workers, Yemeni, Maritime Trade Operations, Yemeni Armed Forces, CNBC, Hamas, —, HGC Communications Locations: Iran, Barbados, Gulf, Aden, Gaza, Israel, U.S, Belize, Red