Yemen rebels say oil tanker arrives at Hudaydah port

SANAA (AA) – The Houthi group said Sunday an oil tanker had arrived at the rebel-held al-Hudaydah seaport in western Yemen.

In a tweet, Yahya Sharaf al-Din, deputy chief of the Red Sea Ports Corporation, said the Brizo oil tanker, which carries 28,000 liters of gasoline, “arrived at the port after being held for four months by the [Saudi-led] coalition”.

He, however, went on to accuse the coalition of “still hijacking other oil tankers”.

On Saturday, Houthi rebels warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen due to fuel supply shortages.

Rebel authorities accuse the Saudi-led coalition of holding 20 oil vessels and preventing them from arriving at the al-Hudaydah seaport.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis are since believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara