Iranian ship laden with weapons seized off Yemen

YEMEN - An Iranian ship laden with various weapons believed to be for al-Houthi rebels was seized Monday off the Yemeni coasts of the Midi harbour in the far north west of the country, security sources said Tuesday.

 
The 5-member crew, 4 Iranians and an Indian, were taken immediately to the capital, Sana'a, where investigations with them are going on now, the sources said.

 
The security sources believed that the ship was on its way to unload its weapon shipment, which includes anti-armour missiles, somewhere close to Haradh. The proposed plan was to hide the weapons in a farm, to be found and taken by al-Houthi rebels.

 
Midi harbor and Haradh area are only tens of kilometers from the western frontline of al-Malahaid.

 
Earlier on Monday, the Independent Paper al-Ahali said that the Iranian revolutionary guards train al-Houthi rebels in camps in neighboring Eritrea. The paper also said that the Iranian revolutionary guards transport the weapons through the Eritrean harbor of Asab to Yemen’s harbor of Midi.


To this end, the rebel leader, Abdullah al-Mahdoon, surrendered himself to the army earlier this month. Al-Mahdoon said in previous statements that al-Houthi rebels receive unlimited support from the Iranian revolutionary guards, and experts from the Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

 

Al-Mahdoon also said that while preparing for this round of war before August 10th, 2009, the top rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi was always telling his fighters, “This is our last war, and everything will be in our favor."


Meanwhile, the army said Tuesday that at least 10 rebels were killed, including the field leader, Yahya Kazmah who was killed when the rebels implemented suicide attacks on the troops' posts in the areas around the city Sa'adah. The army also said it achieved progress in Harf Sufyan and al-Malahaid where air strikes target the hideouts and supply movements of the rebels almost daily.


Eyewitnesses in Razeh, west of Sa’adah, said that al-Houthi rebels will kill any citizen who has gun or refuse to fight with them. Al-Houthi rebels have been trying to open a new front by forcing the local people to fight with them. Two citizens were shot to death by Al-Houthi rebels on Monday for not agreeing to participate in fighting against the state, said eyewitnesses, who requested to stay anonymous.

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