Houthis Reject UN's Plea To Release Hijacked Vessel Claiming It Carried Weapons

The Houthis strongly criticized the UN’s Security Council, better known as the UNSC, for demanding the release of a seized UAE-flagged vessel. The Houthis seized the vessel ‘Rwabee’, which was transporting supplies from the Yemeni island of Socotra to the port of Jazan on 3 January.

Hussein Al-Azzi Houthi, the Militia official, right away rejected the UN’s plead to free the hijacked ship. Instead, he again repeated that the vessel was loaded with weapons to Support Legitimacy for Coalition in Yemen. Hussein also accused the UNSC of “misleading public opinion” on Saturday.

A military coalition spearheaded by Saudi had intervened in Yemen in 2015 March to support the internationally recognized government when the Houthis captured Sanaa, the capital in 2014.

cargo ship sunset — Representation Image

The Houthis seized Rwabee off the Red Sea port in Hodeidah. They didn’t stop at that. They went on to publish a video that showed military equipment on the vessel, including military inflatable rafts, trucks, and similar vehicles and what seemed to be rifles.

Yemen’s media reports and Defense Ministry reported intensified attacks on Houthis fighting in Hareb located south of Marib. Troops pushed about 10 km into the Houthi-operated territory in Juba. The Houthis kept suffering extreme setbacks since the beginning of 2022 with troops taking control of three districts in Shabwa and advancing soon into Hareb.

The same coalition urged Yemenis to avoid driving on main roads that connect Al-Bayda and Marib to Hareb, Ouselan, and Bayhan as these were “areas of operations” during fights on the ground as well as coalition airstrikes.

The coalition announced killing nearly345 Houthis and destructing 37 militia vehicles over the past one day in Marib and Al-Bayda.

Yemeni Landmine Records responsible for the documentation of victims of unexploded ordnances and mines. It reported on Friday that Houthi’s landmines had taken the lives of 38 civilians and government fighters since earlier January in Marib and Shabwa.

Musa Abdullah Al-Harethi, a landmine specialist, was allegedly murdered in Ouselan on Saturday while he was trying to defuse a device planted by Houthis. Two children died in a blast brought about by a landmine in Al-Khoka in south of Hodeidah.

Reference: aljazeera.com