Saudi Arabia-led coalition detects imminent Houthi attack threat near Red Sea

The alliance said it was working to neutralise the threat

A missile is fired from a Saudi Royal Navy destroyer during a joint 10-day exercise between Saudi Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy in the Arabian Sea. Reuters

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said it detected an imminent danger to navigation and global trade south of the Red Sea, Saudi state media reported early on Monday.

The coalition said hostile movements and activity by the Yemeni Houthi forces using explosive-laden boats had also been detected. Measures were being taken to neutralise the threat and ensure freedom of navigation, it said, without going into details.

The Iran-backed group has repeatedly targeted international shipping using speedboats rigged with explosives as well as drones and rockets.

In October, the coalition said it had destroyed numerous craft being prepared with explosives for attacks against commercial shipping.

The US and other international powers have repeatedly expressed growing concern at the Houthi tactic, pointing out that a significant proportion of global energy supplies and large quantities of trade pass through Bab Al Mandeb between Yemen and Djibouti as ships head for the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

On Sunday, the coalition's air defences destroyed a drone targeting Najran airport in the south of Saudi Arabia, state media reported.

Debris from the destroyed drone, launched from Sanaa airport in Yemen, was scattered in a residential area but no injuries were reported, Saudi state TV said.

There were also heavy air strikes on more than a dozen Houthi targets around Sanaa carried out by coalition jets on Sunday.

It was the latest in almost daily drone attacks by Houthi rebels that targeted the kingdom.

This is a developing story…