Saudi media said today, Monday, that the Saudi-led military coalition foiled an "imminent" Houthi attack with a booby-trapped boat in the southern Red Sea.
The coalition said - in a statement published by the official media in Saudi Arabia - that the Houthi group allied with Iran - which the coalition has been fighting for more than 6 years - continues to threaten sea lanes and global trade.
The statement did not give further details about the attack, while the Houthis did not immediately comment about it.
# Urgent # The Coalition: Thwarting an imminent hostile attack by a booby-trapped boat by the terrorist Houthi militia in the southern Red Sea.
#Was_general
SPA (@SPAregions) May 24, 2021
The Red Sea is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, as it connects to the Suez Canal and thousands of ships pass through it through the Bab al-Mandab strait at its southern tip.
A few days ago, Saudi media reported that the Saudi-Emirati coalition forces intercepted 8 drones and 3 ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards the Kingdom on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.
And last December, Saudi Arabia said that a tanker anchored in the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea was hit when a booby-trapped boat collided with it, after a separate accident at another Saudi port in which a tanker was damaged in an explosion.
The Houthis have recently intensified the launching of ballistic missiles, missiles and drones at Saudi areas, amid repeated announcements by the coalition that they are destroying them, and accusing the group of being supported by these weapons from Iran.
The Houthi group says that these attacks come in response to the ongoing coalition raids against it in separate areas of Yemen.
Yemen has been witnessing a war for more than 6 years, which has killed 233,000 people, and 80% of the population of about 30 million people have become dependent on support and aid, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has had regional extensions since March 2015, as a coalition led by the Saudi neighbor has been carrying out military operations in support of government forces in the face of the Houthis, who control several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa.