The US Navy said it had seized 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition from a fishing boat it said left Iran for rebels in warring Yemen. “U.S. 5th Fleet ships seized some 1,400 AK-47 rifles and 226,600 rounds from an unmarked fishing boat … in the northern Arabian Sea“, Said in a statement Wednesday the Central Command of the American naval forces (Navcent).
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According to this source, the ship was intercepted on December 20 and the US military seized the weapons and arrested the five crew members – who claimed to be Yemenis and who will be repatriated – before sinking the boat. “The vessel was believed to have come from Iran and was said to have transited international waters on a route known to smuggle arms illegally for the benefit of Houthi rebels in Yemen.“, According to the press release. The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet of the United States claims to have seized some 8,700 illegal weapons in 2021.
Violation of UN Security Council Resolutions
Saudi Arabia – leading a military coalition supporting the Yemeni government in its war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels – and the United States have long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with arms, this that Tehran denies. “Direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates UN Security Council resolutions and (leads to) US sanctions“, According to the American press release.
The announcement of the seizure comes as the conflict escalates further in Yemen, with the Saudi-led coalition stepping up air raids in recent days on the rebel-held capital Sana’a. The coalition announced on Wednesday that it had targeted a Houthi military camp in Sana’a and destroyed seven drones and weapons warehouses, according to the official Saudi agency SPA. And Monday evening, the coalition had claimed to have led “precise and limited air strikes»At Sana’a International Airport. According to the UN, the war in Yemen will have caused the death of 377,000 people since 2014 and by the end of 2021, more than half of whom are due to the indirect consequences of the conflict, in particular the lack of drinking water, hunger and diseases.