In a
televised statement, Yahya Sare’e said the oil tanker “belongs to a company
that has ties with the Israeli enemy”.
The ship was accurately and directly struck while sailing in
the Red Sea and is at risk of sinking, according to the senior Yemeni military
official.
Global maritime monitors say the SOUNION was targeted by
multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah.
The European Union’s naval forces in the region, deployed to
prevent Ansarullah’s operations, said the tanker was carrying 150,000 tons of
crude oil, and the attack from Yemen led to the loss of engine power while
causing a fire on board.
The SOUNION is now reportedly anchored near Eritrea amid
plans to move it to a safer destination for checks and repairs.
None of the crew members who were evacuated have been
harmed.
Sare’e
also declared that Ansarullah staged a second operation, which targeted the SW
NORTH WIND I, reiterating that this vessel also belongs to a company that
“deals with the Israeli enemy” and “violated the decision to ban entry to the
ports of occupied Palestine.”
This ship, too, was directly and accurately hit while
sailing in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the Ansarullah military spokesman
said.
Maritime monitors say the SW NORTH WIND I suffered damage
after an encounter with an uncrewed vessel 57 nautical miles south of Yemen’s
port of Aden.
Ansarullah
said the attacks in the Aden Gulf and the Red Sea were carried out with
unmanned boats, ballistic missiles, winged missiles, and drones.
“Our operations will continue until the aggression ceases
and the siege on Gaza is lifted, and we will continue to prevent all ships
heading to Israel until the blockade on the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Ansarullah
added.
Since November, the Sana’a government forces have carried
out scores of attacks against Israeli and Israeli-affiliated vessels in the Red
Sea and beyond.
The
arrival of American and British destroyers in the region has failed to deter
the Yemeni forces. Bombing attacks by United States and British forces have
seen ships and warships belonging to America and Britain also come under
attack.
Ansarullah has waged more than 184 attacks against Israeli,
American and British ships in solidarity with Gaza.
The Sana’a government has informed mediators that its
operations will end once a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip and the
blockade on the enclave is lifted.
According
to experts, Ansarullah’s military actions have proven very effective amid a
significant drop in the number of US and British ships, and ships bound for
Israeli ports in the Red Sea.
The presence of Western warships and the regular bombings on
Yemen by America and Britain have failed to weaken or stop Ansarullah’s
maritime ban on ships docking at Israeli ports.
Analysts have said the US-led military failure to end the
Red Sea maritime disruption for Israeli-linked ships is all the more
embarrassing for the United States, considering that Ansarullah has been
subject to almost a decade of war.
On
Friday, Yemenis heeded a call by Ansarullah leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in a
remarkable show of support. People flooded the streets of the capital as well
as the governates of Sa’ada, Hodeidah, Hajja, Dhamar, Amran, al-Bayda, Rima,
al-Dhalea, Lahij, Ibb, al-Mahwit, al-Jawf and Marib with million-man marches
voicing their approval of the government’s policies on Palestine.
The
huge weekly turnout on Fridays, across Yemen has led critics to accuse other
Arab states of failing to organize a similar level of street protests against
the Israeli massacres in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The popular domestic support in Yemen has also helped
strengthen the determination of Ansarullah to continue its military operations
in support of the people and resistance in Gaza.
