(Riyadh) Rebels in Yemen seized a boat in the Red Sea on Monday, claiming it was carrying “military equipment”, but Saudi Arabia denounced an act of “piracy” against a ship containing civilian equipment.
Saudi Arabia has been operating in Yemen since 2015 at the head of a military coalition of Muslim countries to support government forces in the face of Houthi rebels, supported by Iran.
Rival powers, Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, a country neighboring Yemen, are opposed on several issues in the Middle East.
“The UAE-flagged vessel named ‘Rawabi’ was hacked and kidnapped at 11.57pm (3:57 pm EST) on Sunday while sailing off the coast of Hodeidah province” in western Yemen Saudi coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said.
The ship returning from the Yemeni archipelago of Socotra, off the southern coast of Yemen, had transported equipment intended for a field hospital in this archipelago, and was heading for Jazan, in Saudi Arabia, he said. in a statement quoted by the official Saudi agency SPA.
“The Houthi terrorist militia bears full responsibility for this criminal act of piracy,” he added, calling on the rebels to “immediately release the ship”. Otherwise, “the coalition forces will take all necessary measures to deal with this violation.”
Contacted by AFP, Turki al-Maliki was unable to specify the number of people on board the ship.
Houthi rebels confirmed seizing an Emirati-flagged boat, claiming it was carrying “military equipment”.
The ship “entered Yemeni waters without any authorization” and “was engaged in hostile acts,” rebels military spokesman Yahya Saree accused on Twitter.
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“The successful and unprecedented operation is part of the fight against aggression” of the coalition, of which the Emirates are part, for his part said on Twitter a rebel leader, Mohammed Abdelsalam.
He announced that a press conference would be held later today on the matter.
Several hijackings, mostly attributed to Iran, have taken place in and around Gulf waters in recent years, heightening tensions.
Iran and the United States Navy, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, regularly accuse each other of carrying out hostile maneuvers at sea.
The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the rebels has escalated in recent weeks, with the Saudi air force stepping up raids on Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, and the Houthis stepping up missile and drone attacks. against the kingdom.
The UN and the United States are pushing to end the war in Yemen which has been going on since 2014, but to no avail.
According to the UN, the war in Yemen has killed 377,000 people, including around 227,000 deaths due to the indirect consequences of the conflict, such as lack of clean water, hunger and disease.