Yemen's Houthis announced they carried out a new ballistic missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sari claimed in a statement on X that the tanker 'Daisy' was targeted in the Gulf of Aden and the operation was successful.
Sari claimed the ship was hit and forced to turn back. He stressed that the attack was part of a naval blockade decision that will continue until the demands of the Yemeni people are met and the blockade is lifted.
Second strike claim on same day
This announcement came after the Houthis earlier said they struck another Saudi oil tanker, the 'Wafa', off the coast of Yanbu in the northern Red Sea. In a televised statement, Sari claimed that under the blockade they launched on July 22, the number of targeted Saudi oil tankers has risen to 8, and the number of ships turned away has reached 29.
Military escalation in the region continues
Tensions have been rising in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since early July. While the Houthis have stepped up attacks on ships linked to Saudi Arabia, the Riyadh administration announced that one of its ships was attacked and carried out airstrikes on Houthi positions in Hudaydah.
Saudi Arabia announced it has formed a defensive naval coalition in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with countries including the US, Yemen, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco, Maldives, Bangladesh and New Zealand to ensure maritime security.
As the war in Yemen continues between government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and large areas, the military escalation since July has seen the fiercest clashes since 2022.
