Heavy Explosions Reported in Yemen’s Hodeidah
Yemeni sources reported hearing powerful explosions in the Hodeidah Governorate on the Red Sea, an area controlled by the Houthi militias.
Local residents said on Friday that heavy strikes had targeted the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen, triggering a series of powerful explosions.
According to the residents, approximately three heavy strikes hit Houthi militia positions near the port of Hodeidah and the Al-Kathib coastline, located close to the strategic port facility. The resulting explosions were heard across the coastal city.
The residents suggested that the strikes may have been carried out by warships, as no military aircraft were reportedly heard flying over the Red Sea governorate.
Local sources said that one of the strikes destroyed the Houthis’ maritime navigation systems at the port of Hodeidah, which the militias use to monitor commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Another strike reportedly targeted a militia operations center.
The sources added that Houthi ambulances were seen rushing to the site of the strikes, suggesting that members of the militia may have been wounded.
The official spokesman for the Houthi militias had previously stated that the maritime navigation ban imposed by his group on Saudi Arabia was not intended to halt shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but was directed solely at Riyadh.
The statement came one day after the Houthis announced that they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
A maritime blockade could place additional pressure on the Saudi economy by restricting access to the kingdom’s Red Sea ports.
Despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has been able to continue transporting millions of barrels of crude oil to international markets each day through its massive East-West oil pipeline, which connects its energy facilities in the Gulf with export terminals on the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthis announced on Monday that they were banning maritime shipping involving Saudi Arabia, amid growing tensions between the two sides and as maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by escalating fighting between Iran and the United States.
The Houthis subsequently issued warning messages to vessels sailing in the area.
Saudi-flagged and Saudi-linked vessels were specifically targeted in those warnings, according to a message recorded by a vessel transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday and reviewed by Agence France-Presse.
On Wednesday, the Houthis announced that they had targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.
Shipping in the Red Sea nevertheless continued on Thursday despite the attacks, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to its lowest level in more than two months.
