RIYADH: The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed carrying out military strikes in Yemen’s Hodeidah Governorate, saying the operation targeted Houthi military positions linked to threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
In an official statement, the coalition said it struck military objectives associated with the Houthi movement in Hodeidah as part of efforts to counter security threats in the region.
The coalition stressed that the Port of Hodeidah was not targeted and said that all ports remain open to maritime navigation.
According to the coalition, the destroyed targets were connected to activities that threatened commercial vessels operating in the Red Sea. It warned that it would continue to respond if Houthi forces carried out further hostile actions.
The coalition’s statement came after Houthi-affiliated media reported that Saudi forces had launched airstrikes on Hodeidah and Kamaran Island, located off Yemen’s western coast.
The Houthi-run television channel Al Masirah claimed that Saudi warplanes carried out airstrikes on the coastal city of Hodeidah and also targeted Kamaran Island.
Separately, Yemen’s state news agency alleged that Saudi airstrikes hit facilities belonging to the Telecommunications Corporation in Hodeidah.
The coalition did not confirm those specific claims and maintained that its operation was directed solely at military targets.
The latest developments follow an announcement by Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement a day earlier claiming responsibility for targeting two Saudi oil tankers. In a statement, the group said the vessels had violated a maritime blockade it had declared.
Days earlier, the Houthis announced what they described as a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, saying the measure was a response to what they called the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen and the continued closure of Sanaa International Airport.
The competing claims from the Saudi-led coalition, Houthi-affiliated media, and Yemeni state media have not been independently verified. The latest exchange marks a further escalation in tensions in and around the Red Sea, where attacks on shipping have heightened regional security concerns.
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