Ansar Allah military spokesman Yahya Saree announced on Monday an attack on a Saudi ship in the Red Sea and strikes on Saudi-backed forces in Yemen’s Marib province, as the conflict in Yemen continues to escalate.
Saree said that Yemeni forces struck what he called a “Saudi-led coalition landing ship” and four accompanying warships with ballistic missiles off the coast of the Red Sea port city of Mocha.
So far, Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the attack. Officials from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, whose leadership is based in Riyadh, told Reuters that Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, struck a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with six missiles, though they described the vessel as having been out of service for more than a year for maintenance and likely empty at the time of the attack.
Later in the day, Saree said that Ansar Allah forces “successfully targeted an arms depot belonging to Saudi enemy forces in the Sahn al-Jin camp in Marib Governorate with several drones.” Ansar Allah has launched multiple attacks on Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in Marib and in Mocha, inflicting dozens of casualties.
Saudi-backed forces have also been launching attacks against Ansar Allah and are claiming major casualties. On Monday, the Taiz Military Axis, part of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government’s military forces, said that it targeted two Houthi military vehicles and six patrols in the southwestern Taiz province, claiming the shelling achieved “direct hits.”
Saudi Arabia reignited its war in Yemen by launching airstrikes last month against the Sanaa international airport to prevent a flight from Iran from landing. In response, Ansar Allah announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, a policy it calls a “blockade for a blockade,” and has launched multiple attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia.
