JEDDAH: The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has intercepted a cargo ship coming from Djibouti to Hodeidah port carrying military equipment under the guise of carrying medical supplies.
Coalition sources told Sky News Arabia that a search of the ship Menburt Cedar, which was bearing the flag of the Marshall Islands, showed it was carrying encrypted military communication equipment and other military hardware in containers originating from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.
The ship was intercepted en route to the port of Hodeidah and taken to Jazan, where it was inspected in the presence of international observers, the sources said.
Coalition forces have in the past seized a number of boats and ships as they attempted to smuggle weapons to the Iran-backed Houthi militias and allied forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Meanwhile, Saudi-led airstrikes and recent clashes have killed at least 59 Houthi rebels, including prominent leaders, with dozens injured, Al-Arabiya News reported Monday.
Clashes took place in the south-western governorate of Taiz, where the coalition targeted Houthi-held areas, according to sources with the Popular Resistance Forces (PRF).
Yahya Zafran, a Houthi leader, was among 29 militants killed.
Sources said six Houthis ultras were killed in clashes in Marib province, and a Houthi weapons depot was destroyed by coalition airstrikes.
Ten Houthi fighters were killed, including leader Yahya Al-Mutawakkil Taha, in clashes with the national army and PRF in Sanaa.
In central Ibb province, sources said the PRF carried out a surprise attack on Houthi militias, killing five.
In Al-Bayda province, the PRF attacked Houthi positions, killing five militants and wounding others.
In Hodeidah, Houthi leader Abdulwahab Al-Houthi was reportedly killed by the PRF.
In a separate development, shelling from Yemen killed a Saudi border guard on duty on the southern frontier, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
He died during a bombardment on Sunday evening of a border post in Al-Harth sector of Jazan region, it said in a statement carried by SPA.
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2016-02-16 05:46:57 +0300
