On March 23, warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition destroyed two water-born improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs) of the Houthis along the western coast of Yemen, the Emirates News Agency (WMA) reported.
The WMA said that the Houthis had been planning to use these two WBIEDs to target vessels using an international naval route in the Red Sea, which is likely the Mandeb Strait.
A report of the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) revealed that the Houthis have used similar WBIEDs to attack several warships of the Saudi-led coalition over the last two years. The most well-known incident was on January 29, 2017 when a WBIED of the Houthis managed to hit a the Saudi Navy frigate al-Madinah in the Red Sea.
CAR’s report also suggested that Iran had been directly involved in the developing of these WBIEDs, as many Iranian-made parts had been found in some WBIEDs inspected by CAR’s team last year.
The UAE Army has been conducting military operations against the Houthis along the western coast of Yemen for more than a year now. However, several key positions including the al-Hudaydah port there are still under the control of the Houthis.
