US extends detention of captain accused of shipping weapons to Houthis
Al Jazeera
Pakistani national charged with smuggling missile components to Iran-aligned group targeting Red Sea shipping.
A Pakistani national accused by US officials of carrying Iranian-made missile parts to Houthi rebels in Yemen is to remain behind bars awaiting trial.
During a detention hearing in a federal court on Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Muhammad Pahlawan with attempting to smuggle a warhead and other weapons. The suspect was arrested in January amid US efforts to avert the Iran-aligned Houthis targeting of shipping in the Red Sea.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said Pahlawan refused to slow the unflagged dhow when the US Navy attempted to board and “shouted for the crew to burn the boat before the Navy could board it”.
The operation in the Arabian Sea, which took place on January 11, left two Navy SEALs dead.
Finally, the documents added, another crew member had stepped up to the engine and stopped the boat.
