News / Yemen

Yemen's Houthis seize ‘suspected vessel’ in Red Sea: Official

Monday, 18 November 2019 6:34 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 November 2019 6:54 PM ]

The file photo shows a ship at Salif port in the western Red Sea province of Hudaydah, Yemen, May 13, 2019. (By AFP)

Fighters from Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement have managed to seize a ‘suspected vessel’ off the western coasts of the impoverished country in the Red Sea, but will release it once it proves to belong to South Korea after completing legal procedures, a top Houthi official says.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, made the remarks in an interview with Reuters on Monday.

“Yemeni coast guards... are checking to see whether (the vessel) belongs to the countries of aggression or to South Korea, in which case it will be released after completing legal procedures. The crews are being well treated,” he said.

By countries of aggression Houthi meant Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies that launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the former pro-Saudi regime back to power and crushing Ansarullah.

In a short message on his Twitter account, Houthi assured that there were absolutely no need to “worry about the crew.”

هناك حالة إشتباه ويقوم خفر السواحل اليمنية بمهمته
في التأكدهل فعلاتتبع دول العدوان أم أنها لدولة كورياالجنوبية
وإذا كانت لدولة كوريا فسيتم الإفراج عنهما بعد استكمال الإجراءات القانونية كاي حالة مشابهه تواجدت بالمياه الإقليميةاليمنية
ونطمئن الجميع أن لاقلق لا على الطواقم ولا غيرها
— محمد علي الحوثي (@Moh_Alhouthi) November 18, 2019

His comments came shortly after the Saudi-led military coalition, in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, accused the Houthi movement of “hijacking” a vessel that had been towing a South Korean drilling rig. It added that the vessel had been seized late on Sunday.

Houthis target Saudi warship off Yemen’s western coast

In a new retaliatory attack, Yemeni Houthi fighters target a Saudi warship off the war-torn country’s western coast.

The Saudi-imposed war has taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years.

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www.presstv.co.uk