"Suicide" boats belonging to Yemen's Houthis (Ansarallah) attacked a Saudi warship on patrol in the Red Sea, killing two sailors in a rare naval clash, AFP reported Tuesday (January 31st).
The assault off the port city of al-Hodeida, which is held by the Houthis, came as Yemeni forces backed by the coalition pressed a drive up the Red Sea coast.
"A Saudi frigate came under a terrorist attack by three suicide boats belonging to the Houthi militias," the coalition said late Monday without specifying when the incident occurred.
Although the Saudi warship "dealt with the boats", one of them "collided with the back of the ship and exploded and caused a fire", which the crew brought under control, the coalition said.
As a result of the incident, two Saudi crewmen lost their lives and three were wounded, the coalition said, adding the frigate was able to resume its patrol.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack without specifying how the vessel was targeted.
"It was hit with precision after an accurate surveillance operation off the western coast," a Houthi military official said in a statement.
Heavy fighting between the warring sides has raged around Midi and the inland town of Haradh, leaving 21 Yemeni troops and seven Houthis dead over the past 24 hours, military sources said on Tuesday.
On Monday rocket fire from the Houthis against "a UN building" in South Dhahran city wounded a Saudi soldier, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The building is supposed to host meetings of a commission facilitating contact between Yemen's warring sides.
