US President Donald Trump's administration has admitted "to firing two Hellfire missiles" at a third commercial vessel carrying Indian crew members off the coast of Oman on Thursday. This comes as the latest in a series of attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf region that have left three Indian seafarers dead in the past four days.
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According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), "American forces disabled the Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker MT Jalveer in the Gulf of Oman at 11:20 pm ET on June 10, making it the third commercial vessel targeted by US forces this week."
CENTCOM said it acted against the vessel "as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman."
"A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces," it added. The strike came days after US forces disabled the Palau-flagged tankers M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello.
While Marivex and Settebello were targeted on June 8 and June 10 respectively, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged bitumen tanker MT Jalveer, carrying 20 Indian crew members, was struck on June 11, making it the third vessel with Indians on board to come under attack in four days.
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