SANAA (Dispatches) --
Yemen’s army and its Ansarullah allies attacked a southern oil port on Friday, in the first operation they have claimed since a truce between the warring sides ended earlier this month.
The attack targeted a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the Nissos Kea, at the port of Ash Shihr, about 550km south of capital Sanaa, but did not strike it, a Greek company that owns the vessel said.
Okeanis Eco Tankers said that while the tanker was at the buoy for loading, “there were two drone-driven explosions in close proximity”, prompting it to leave the port and head out to sea.
The attack did not cause any casualties or damage.
It is the first announced attack by the Yemeni army and its allies, who control the capital and most of northern Yemen, since the end of a six-month truce between Yemen’s warring parties on 2 October.
The army said in a statement they had carried out a “minor warning strike” on Friday on the Al-Dhaba port in the eastern province of Hadramaut to prevent Saudi-backed militants from using it for oil exports.
Yemen’s truce was brokered in April and immediately raised hope that a negotiated route out of the eight-year conflict could be found. Initially agreed for two months, the deal was renewed twice.
The United Nations estimates that around 380,000 people have died as a result of the Saudi war, which in 2015 drew in a Saudi-led coalition to prop up a former regime.
The army said on Friday that the operation was launched “to prevent the continuation of the widespread looting of oil wealth and the failure to allocate it to serve the people... and pay the salaries of the employees”.
“The armed forces will not hesitate to prevent any ship from trying to plunder the wealth of the Yemeni people,” Army spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said.