UAE slams Houthi attack in Red Sea as ‘terrorist act’

ABU DHABI

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash on Thursday described the alleged targeting of a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi militia as a “terrorist act”.

On Wednesday, a Saudi-led military coalition accused the Houthis of attacking and “slightly damaging” the vessel.

The coalition refrained, however, from stating exactly where the attack took place.

Shortly afterward, Yemen’s Houthi-run Al-Masirah television channel appeared to confirm the attack, but said Houthi forces had attacked a Saudi “warship” off Yemen’s western coast.

In a Thursday tweet, Gargash said the attack -- which he insisted had targeted an oil tanker -- had confirmed the need to capture Yemen’s strategic Al-Hudayda seaport from the Houthis.

The UAE is a leading member of the Saudi-led coalition, which was cobbled together in 2015 to fight the Houthis.

Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country.

The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Shia Houthis of serving as an Iranian proxy force -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.