Photo of the seized ship ‘Al-Rawabi’. (Photo credit: MMY)
The Yemeni Armed Forces announced on 3 January that its naval troops seized a UAE-flagged cargo vessel in the Red Sea, claiming it carried military supplies and was “engaged in hostilities.”
According to the spokesman for the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the vessel entered Yemeni waters, off the coast of Hodeidah, without authorization, and with intent to supply militias with weapons.
The official went on to add that the full details of the operation would be made public later in the day.
1-The Yemeni armed forces are seizing an Emirati military cargo ship with military equipment on board that entered Yemeni waters without any license and engaged in hostilities targeting the security and stability of the Yemeni people.
— Yahya Sare'e (@Yahya_Saree) January 3, 2022
In response to the seizure of the ship, the Saudi-led coalition issued a press statement saying the Yemeni Armed Forces had committed an act of “armed piracy” and alleging that the ship carried medical equipment from a dismantled Saudi field hospital.
The seizure of the ship by Yemen’s ruling Ansarallah movement comes amid a recent escalation of military operations against UAE-backed forces in Yemeni territory.
On 30 December, the Yemeni Armed Forces launched a ballistic missile strike on a UAE base in Shabwah province, reportedly leaving several dead and injured.
This marked the second such attack against Emirati forces in the span of three days.
Yemen has been sunk into chaos after Saudi Arabia, along with some of its close allies, launched an invasion in 2015 of the Arab world’s poorest country, in the hope of overthrowing the Ansarallah movement.
The conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead and has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and economic collapse. Over recent weeks the kingdom’s fighter jets have also intensified their air campaign on the country’s capital, Sanaa.
A reported four million people have been internally displaced during the fighting. In the midst of this crisis, back in September, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that 16 million Yemenis were “marching towards starvation.”