The Houthi military spokesperson said the group had targeted Saudi forces, weapons depots and command centres in the Mocha area and the Tadawin camp in Marib Governorate with ballistic missiles and drones. Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday announced a fresh wave of military operations targeting Saudi-linked assets, including a military transport vessel in the Red Sea and positions backed by Saudi Arabia inside Yemen, according to Press TV.
Speaking to representatives of prominent media outlets, al-Alimi said “no action by the Houthi militias will go unanswered or unchecked”, according to Al Jazeera, which cited Yemen’s SABA news agency. He also said there was still an opportunity for the Houthis “to lay down their arms, engage in political life, and compete through the ballot box on an equal footing with all other Yemenis”. Yemen’s government blamed the Houthis for the attack, which involved three ballistic missiles fired at the Tihamah, a small cargo ship carrying food, according to CNN. The strikes triggered a fire that killed four crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indonesian, and injured four other crew members and a rescue worker, the report said. Yemen’s Transport Ministry said the vessel was hit a second time after a search and rescue operation had begun, describing the attack as an attempt to “endanger the lives of all onboard, including the rescue teams”. Al Jazeera, citing Yemen Today TV and state-run Saba TV, reported that the attack was followed by a statement from Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, who described the operation as “large-scale and precise”.
Meanwhile, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), vowed that the government would respond to the Houthi attacks and urged the group to end the conflict and enter the country’s political process. The port is in an area controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
