MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2022) The Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, has claimed responsibility for the attack in the Dabbah port in eastern Yemen.
On Friday, a source told Sputnik that there were two explosions in the port, but the Nissos Kea crude oil tanker was able to leave the port unharmed despite the drone attack.
"Our armed forces carried out a simple warning strike, in order to prevent an oil ship that was trying to loot crude oil through the Dabba port in Hadramout Governorate, after violating the decision issued by the relevant authorities banning the transportation and export of Yemeni sovereign oil derivatives," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sare'e (Sarea) said on social media late on Friday.
The Yemeni government has condemned the attack in the Dabbah port, saying that such acts are a threat to the country's maritime and energy security.
Sare'e said that the Houthis' "warning message" was meant to "prevent the continuation of the massive looting of the oil wealth."
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since 2014. The situation was exacerbated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition, working in cooperation with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The latter have retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.
In April 2022, a two-month ceasefire was declared in Yemen under the auspices of the United Nations and the support of the parties to the conflict. In early August, the warring sides agreed to extend the truce by two months (until October 2), to negotiate an expanded truce agreement.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on October 2 that the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels had failed to negotiate the extension of the truce.
