Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers transiting through the Red Sea.
“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named Encelia and Layla, for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Wednesday.
The Saudi Press Agency reported that the Encelia had been hit, citing an official source at Saudi Arabia’s Transport General Authority. The source said that all crew members were safe.
“These attacks constitute a violation of international laws and conventions that guarantee the safety of commercial vessels and their crews,” the SPA, which did not provide details on the claimed Layla attack, said.
Saree said that the attacks were carried out, “using a number of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones”, and led to fires on the ships.
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, had also forced “nearly ten ships… to abandon their routes, and turn back”, Saree said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said it had received reports that a tanker has been struck.
“The master of a tanker reports being struck by an unknown projectile which has caused a fire onboard that the crew are currently fighting,” UKMTO, which monitors shipping in the region, said.
Yemen’s Houthi group, which has fought the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition that backs it for more than a decade, imposed a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia on July 20. That followed some of the worst violence Yemen has seen for four years, after the Yemeni government bombed the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport to stop an Iranian plane from landing.
Al Jazeera
