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Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah) announced on August 24 that they had struck an oil tanker owned by Saudi Arabia in the northern Red Sea with a ballistic missile, the latest in a series of attacks the group says are aimed at enforcing a blockade on shipping tied to the kingdom.
In a statement, the Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group managed to target the oil tanker “Amzan” off the coast of Yanbu, a Saudi Red Sea port city.
The spokesman described the strike as “precise and direct,” saying it caused a fire aboard the vessel and prompted other ships in the area to flee.
He noted that the attack was carried out “in the framework of implementing the Armed Forces’ decision to ban maritime navigation” for what they called “the Saudi enemy,” a policy the group has framed as a response to what it describes as a Saudi-led blockade of Yemen.
“We are cementing the equation of siege for siege,” Saree added.
Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company Bahri confirmed in a statement that Amzan was hit, noting that all crew members were safe and no injuries had been reported.
Earlier in the day, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu. The distance to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen is over 530 nautical miles, or around 1,000 kilometers, making the attack the longest successful strike against a vessel in history.
In the very same statement, Saree announced that the Houthis also carried out two separate attacks against what he described as Saudi military buildups near the Yemeni-Saudi border.
The first attack, the spokesman said, targeted “a large military convoy loaded with military equipment” in the al-Abr and al-Wadiah areas using ballistic missiles and drones. He claimed the strike destroyed more than ten trucks he said were carrying weapons from Saudi territory “to target the Yemeni people.”
A second attack targeted what Saree called Saudi-aligned forces in the al-Kanais area, also using ballistic missiles and drones. The spokesman claimed the attack killed and wounded “dozens,” including what he described as commanders and officers, and destroyed several weapons depots.
Video footage posted to social networks confirmed that al-Abr and al-Wadiah were hit, with Houthi strikes sparking a large fire. No casualties have been reported there yet. It is still unclear, however, if the attack on al-Kanais was successful.
Saree said the Houthis would continue to enforce their declared naval blockade “within the announced area of operations,” reiterating the group’s stated policy of “siege for siege” and “comprehensive escalation for comprehensive escalation.”
“We are ready, by the strength of God, to confront any escalation with stronger and more intense strikes, and with wider and larger operations,” he added.
The Houthis announced a “maritime blockade” against Saudi Arabia last month, and since then, the group has carried out a series of attacks targeting Saudi airports, oil facilities, Yemeni government forces, infrastructure in the country, and tankers in the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia is reported to be preparing a major operation, led by Yemeni government forces, against the Houthis. At the same time, the kingdom is said to be engaged in talks with the group through Oman in the hope of de-escalating. For now, a prolonged low-intensity conflict in Yemen seems the more likely scenario.
The latest Houthi strikes are a reminder that the group’s offensive capabilities now rival, in some respects, those of some of the best-equipped militaries in the world.”
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