Illustrative image.
On December 23, the Saudi-led coalition announced that its warplanes had destroyed a booby-trapped boat off the western coast of Yemen.
In a statement, the coalition claimed that the water-borne improvised explosive device (WBIED) was launched by the Houthis (Ansar Allah) from al-Hudaydah.
“We have destroyed 99 booby-trapped boats that threatened the freedom of maritime navigation in Bab al-Mandab and the southern Red Sea [so far],” the statement reads.
The Houthis have been targeting Saudi-led coalition warships with remotely-controlled WBIEDs for the last few years. A report released by the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) in 2017 revealed that Iranian components were used in these makeshift anti-shipping weapons.
In November, the Houthis recaptured the entire coast line of al-Hudaydah following a surprise withdrawal of Saudi-backed forces. Since then, the Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the western coast on a regular basis.
Still, the situation on the western coast is currently in favor of the Houthis who will likely try to launch more attacks on the coalition’s naval assets using WBIEDs and anti-ship guided missiles from now on.