Houthi rebels in Yemen pose a threat to shipping in the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government said Sunday (October 2nd) after an attack on an Emirati vessel, AFP reported.
"Rockets targeted an Emirati warship as it approached the coast of Mokha" on the Red Sea, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said in a statement Saturday, adding that the ship was "completely destroyed".
The coalition said the Houthis had struck a chartered vessel "on its usual route to and from Aden to transfer relief and medical aid and evacuate wounded civilians".
In response, "coalition air and naval forces targeted Houthi militia boats involved in the attack", the coalition said, while its forces "rescued civilian passengers following the attack" on Friday night.
"This incident demonstrates Houthi tactics of terrorist attacks against civilian international navigation in the Bab al-Mandab," the coalition said in a statement.
The strait is a major shipping lane between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden leading into the Indian Ocean.
