Dubai: Arab coalition forces have launched operations against militia boats of Yemen’s Iran-backed Al Houthi group that struck a civilian logistics ship on a humanitarian voyage in a strategic Red Sea shipping lane, the Saudi-led alliance said.
The vessel, an Australian-built high speed logistics catamaran under lease to the United Arab Emirates military, was attacked by Al Houthi fighters near the Bab Al Mandab strait off Yemen’s southern coast on Saturday. The coalition rescued its civilian passengers. No crew were hurt.
In a statement late on Saturday, the coalition said the vessel belonged to the UAE Marine Dredging Company “on its usual route to and from Aden to transfer relief and medical aid and evacuate wounded civilians to complete their treatment outside Yemen.”
“Coalition air and naval forces were targeting Al Houthi militia boats involved in the attack,” it said.
The coalition said the incident showed that Al Houthi tactics involved what it called “terrorist attacks” against civilian international navigation in the waterway.
The Yemeni government on Sunday denounced Al Houthi militants and allies of ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for targeting the ship.
“This is a terrorist attack that violates international law. It is also a clear violation of humanity and a flagrant aggression against life,” the government said in a statement.
It said the strike not only threatened the security of Yemen’s coast, but also international security.
The government said Al Houthis planned to carry out more terrorist attacks to target the civil international navigation and relief ships at the Bab Al Mandab waterway.
It thanked the Arab coalition for its charitable development and reconstruction projects in Yemen, particularly in the areas of health, education, housing and public utilities as well as its great efforts to restore the legitimacy, security and stability to all the cities and governorates of Yemen.
Hundreds of Emirati soldiers in an Arab alliance have been fighting Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis, who control the capital, and training Yemeni troops in Aden to help rebuild the government of internationally-recognised president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
In 2013, more than 3.4 million barrels of oil per day passed through the 20 km wide Bab Al Mandab strait, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
