RIYADH – *The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday it had foiled abooby-trapped boat attack by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea weeks after therebels hit a Saudi oil tanker.*
A statement cited by state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel did not identifythe target of the attack but the rebel-run Saba news agency said theHouthis hit a Saudi military target inside the kingdom’s territorialwaters. It gave no further details.
The coalition statement said “the attack by a booby-trapped boat waslaunched from the shores of Hodeida,” a city off the strategic BabAl-Mandeb straits.
The coalition, which has been fighting the Houthi rebels since March 2015,reaffirmed that the protection of the Bab Al-Mandeb waterway is aninternational responsibility.
Last month, the Houthi rebels hit a giant Saudi oil tanker in the strategicwaterway off Yemen coast causing minor damage.
Saudi Arabia, the world´s biggest crude oil supplier, on July 26 haltedexports through Bab Al-Mandeb as a result of the attack before resuming theshipments 10 days later.
Bab al-Mandeb is a crucial shipping lane between the Arabian Peninsula andthe Horn of Africa, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
About 4.8 million barrels of oil and petroleum products pass through thestrait every day, according to US government figures. – APP/AFP