Yemeni rebels released six Saudi prisoners on Wednesday, a rebel official said, after the kingdom two months ago released over 100 rebels, known as Houthis.
The releases signal that the Saudi coalition and the Iran-backed Houthis are advancing a U.N.-brokered deal aimed at ending the stalemated war in the Arab world’s poorest country.
The Saudi-led coalition launched its campaign in 2015 to drive out the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now exiled in Saudi Arabia. The grinding war has killed over 100,000 people, many of them civilians, and created a humanitarian catastrophe.
Abdul-Qader al-Murtaza, a rebel official in charge of prisoners’ affairs, said the rebel side handed over the released prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the airport in the capital, Sanaa. He called on the Saudi-led coalition to take similar steps and free other Yemeni rebel detainees in the war.
The Saudi-led coalition and the ICRC did not immediately comment on al-Murtaza's statement. Last September, the ICRC facilitated the release of over 200 captives who had been held since the the rebels seized Sanaa, along with much of northern Yemen, in 2014.
The war in Yemen has also left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia started backchannel negotiations with the Houthis in Oman, after the rebels claimed an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure that threatened global oil supplies. The United States blamed the attack on Iran, which denied involvement.
JERUSALEM (AP) — A ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden came under attack Thursday, officials said, the latest assault carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack comes after the U.S. military said early Thursday an allied warship shot down a Houthi missile targeting a vessel the day before near the same area. The Houthis claimed that Wednesday assault, which comes after a period of relatively few rebel attacks on shipping in the region over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In Thursday's attack, a ship was targeted just over 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
The captain “reports a loud bang heard and a splash and smoke seen coming from the sea,” the UKMTO said. “Vessel and all crew are safe.”
The attack was also reported by the private security firm Ambrey.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack late Thursday, identifying the ship the rebels tried to target as the MSC Darwin.
European Union forces separately shot down a drone launched from Houthi territory on Thursday, Gen. Robert Brieger said. Separately on Wednesday, the British warship HMS Diamond began the first in the Royal Navy to shoot down a missile since 1991 when it destroyed a Houthi missile targeting merchant ships.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and firing off drones and missiles steadily in the last months.
However, Wednesday's attack was the first one by rebels in some time. An explosion struck some 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden, the UKMTO said.
Early Thursday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said the explosion came from a coalition warship shooting down the missile likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a U.S.-flagged, owned and operated vessel with 18 U.S. and four Greek crew members.
“There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships,” Central Command said.
Saree claimed that attack but insisted without evidence that the missile hit the Yorktown. Saree also claimed the Houthis targeted another ship in the Indian Ocean, without providing proof. The Houthis have made repeated claims that turned out to not be true during their yearslong war in Yemen.
The Houthis have said they will continue their attacks until Israel ends its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Most of the ships targeted by the Houthis have had little or no direct connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war. The rebels have also fired missiles toward Israel, though they have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), a Sea Viper missile is launched from HMS Diamond to shoot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a large barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea Wednesday. (LPhot Chris Sellars/MoD Crown copyright via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), members of the HMS Diamond's Bridge team shoot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a large barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea Wednesday. (LPhot Chris Sellars/MoD Crown via AP)
