Arab coalition destroys bomb-rigged Houthi boats off Hodeidah

The port of Yemen’s Red Sea coastal city of Hodeida, around 230km west of the capital Sanaa on March 20, 2021. (File/AFP)

• Militia continues to threaten maritime navigation and world trade in the southern Red Sea
• Saudi air defenses earlier intercepted an armed drone

DUBAI: The Arab coalition intercepted and destroyed two Houthi boats rigged with bombs off Yemen’s Hodeidah port as the Iran-backed militants were preparing for an operation, state TV Al-Ekhbariya reported.
The coalition said the militia continues to threaten maritime navigation and world trade in the southern Red Sea, in violation of the Stockholm Agreement due to its continued hostile operations against Hodeidah.
Saudi air defenses earlier intercepted an armed drone launched by the Houthis from Yemen towards Saudi Arabia’s southern city of Khamis Mushait, the Arab coalition command said.
In a statement, the command said the booby-trapped unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over Yemeni air space just south of the Saudi Arabian border.
The attack was just the latest of the Iran-backed militia’s war crimes, the coalition claimed.