Houthi-linked pirates hijack ship carrying field hospital equipment
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement has hijacked a cargo vessel (RWABEE) carrying hospital equipment off the western Yemeni port of Hodeidah, the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday.
The Houthis’ military spokesman confirmed the seizure of a cargo ship but said it was carrying military equipment.
The ship was heading to the Saudi port of Jazan, just north of Yemen, from the Yemeni Red Sea island of Socotra when it was attacked just before midnight on Sunday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, quoting coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki Al Malki.
It was carrying equipment from a shuttered field hospital, when it was attacked, SPA said.
The Arab coalition on Monday demanded the immediate release of a UAE-flagged cargo ship that the Houthi militia hijacked off the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah on Sunday, or face the prospect of a “use force if necessary.”
