Yemen government-aligned forces intercept Houthi boats in Red Sea

Mohammed Sameai and Serdar Dincel

Yemen’s government-aligned National Resistance Forces said Monday they intercepted Houthi “suicide boats” while they were attempting to approach Yemeni islands in the Red Sea.

In a statement carried by their 2 December news agency, the forces said the boats were attempting to “infiltrate and approach liberated islands that control the arteries of international shipping.”

The forces “confronted these boats,” the statement noted, without providing details on the number of boats or their fate.

“Intense movements of suicide boats” belonging to the Houthis were observed “at various times” on Sunday and Monday, it added.

The Houthis did not immediately comment on the statement.

Yemen had been under a relative lull since April 2022 after nearly 12 years of war between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who seized control of the capital, Sanaa, and large parts of the country in 2014.

Since late 2023, after the Gaza war began, the Houthis have become increasingly involved in regional hostilities, launching attacks on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, while recent renewed fighting has raised fears of a return to full-scale conflict.