Houthis attack Yemeni oil terminal in latest assault

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have attacked the al-Dhabba oil terminal in the country’s eastern Hadramout governorate, in their latest strike on the country’s oil infrastructure.

Both the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which controls al-Dhabba, confirmed the attack on Monday, with the government saying in a statement that the attack took place while a commercial ship was at the port, and the Houthis saying that they had forced an oil ship “to leave”.

The Iran-allied Houthis fired a projectile from a drone that landed at the entrance of the terminal, which is located in the town of al-Shihr, two workers at the terminal said.

The Panamanian-flagged tanker Pratika had entered the terminal to load a shipment of crude but left after the attack, the workers said.

The Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which is part of the British Royal Navy, said it received a report that a missile or rocket attack had been carried out at al-Shihr against a single-point mooring at 12:12 GMT. All crew and the vessel were safe, UKMTO said, withholding the ship’s name.

Refinitiv data showed Pratika in the Gulf of Aden at 19:52 GMT, headed for the Suez Canal.

Yemen’s eight-year-old civil war between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, which is backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, has divided the country, with the rebels largely holding the north.

The Houthis have been attacking oil ports in government-held areas as they pile on pressure to extract economic gains in United Nations-led talks for an extended truce deal that have dragged on. Officials say these attacks have disrupted crude oil exports, choking state revenues.

The Houthis have warned oil tankers to not use Yemen’s ports, in an attempt to stop the Yemeni government from obtaining revenue from the oil exports.

Source: Aljazeera