RIYADH —The Arab Coalition Forces on Thursday foiled a booby-trapped boat attack targeting commercial vessels by Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea.

Col. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition Forces, said, “the terrorist attack by a booby-trapped boat was launched from the shores of Hodeida.”

Al-Maliki said the Houthi militants and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards continue to threaten international navigation routes and world trade and protecting Bab Al-Mandeb waterway is an international responsibility.

Bab Al-Mandab is a crucial shipping lane between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Houthi-fired missile intercepted

Meanwhile in another development, the Saudi Royal Air Defense Forces on Thursday intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting the southern city of Jazan. Col. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman of the Coalition Forces to restore legitimacy in Yemen, said that the missile was launched from Amran governorate of Yemen to target civilian areas. “At 9.05 p.m. the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces spotted the launch of the missile heading toward Jazan and successfully intercepted and destroyed it. There were no casualties in the attack,” Al-Maliki said.

He said that this hostile action by the Houthi militia proves the Iranian regime’s continued involvement in supporting the armed group in clear and explicit defiance of the UN resolutions with the aim of threatening the security of not only Saudi Arabia but also the region and the world. — SG/SPA