The Arab Coalition has destroyed explosive-laden boats in Yemen’s Saleef port and Hodeidah port in a targeted strike, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
The four weaponised boats were still being built by the Iran-backed Houthis, according to the same report.
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The destruction of these boats are reported to have thwarted “imminent attack on oil tankers,” according to the SPA report.
Additionally, three “experts” who worked on the explosive-laden boats were killed during the strike on Saleef port, SPA reported.
The statement also called on the Yemen-based terrorist group to “remove weapons from protected sites” including at the Sanaa international airport within a three-hour deadline.
Keeping weapons in the airport of the Yemeni capital and other civilian areas would “end their status” as safe regions not to be targeted by the coalition’s strikes, it said.
The Arab Coalition announced the start of air strikes in Yemen on Friday in retaliation for attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, according to an Al Arabiya report citing the coalition spokesperson al-Malki.
The coalition reported that its forces are carrying out air strikes on “sources of threat in Sanaa and Hodeidah,” despite exercising “the highest standard of restraint for Houthi attacks on oil facilities” in recent days.
The coalition asked civilians to stay away from oil sites in Hodeidah, stressing that it will take all efforts to direct strikes away from civilian facilities without compromising action against credible sources of threat, according to the same report.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have launched dozens of cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia throughout 2021 and into 2022.
In September 2021, the Houthis intensified their efforts to take Marib, a provincial capital which is the government’s last northern stronghold.
The Iran-backed militia frequently target civilian areas and energy facilities in the Kingdom with drones, ballistic missiles and explosive-laden boats.
The Arab Coalition has been carrying out attacks against legitimate military Houthi targets in Yemen in recent months, warning civilians not to approach or gather around the targeted sites beforehand.
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