DUBAI/ADEN/LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – The Houthis have started using “underwater weapons” in their attacks on transport ships in the Red Sea, the leader of the Yemeni rebel movement said on Thursday.
The Houthis have been harassing cargo ships in the region since November in the name of their solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip attacked by Israel.
“Operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, in the Bab el Mandeb Strait and in the Gulf of Aden continue, are intensifying and are effective,” added Abdoulmalik al Houthi in a televised speech. He gave no details on these underwater weapons.
The Houthis sent notes to shipowners reminding them that in their eyes, any ship with Israeli, British or American interests was banned from the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
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A new attack was reported on Thursday morning some 70 nautical miles southeast of Aden by the British Shipping Agency (UKMTO). Two missiles hit the Islander ship, causing a fire. The crew is safe and the ship is back on the road, according to the British authority.
(Nayera Abdallah, Ahmed Elimam, Tala Ramadan and Jana Choukeir in Dubai, Jonathan Saul, Natalie Grover and Robert Harvey in London and Mohammed Ghobari in Aden; Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version)
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