Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claimed Wednesday that they struck a Saudi oil tanker off Yanbu in the Red Sea, continuing their maritime blockade of the kingdom.
This was the eighth Saudi oil tanker targeted since the start of the blockade on July 22, a Houthi military spokesman said.
The group "successfully targeted the Saudi oil tanker 'Wafa' in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu, with a number of ballistic missiles," Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
The Houthis declared they will escalate attacks in the northern Red Sea because Saudi Arabia is diverting its oil tankers there from the south in response to their blockade.
The blockade has threatened top oil exporter Saudi Arabia's ability to get its supplies to the world following Iran's parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the kingdom's only other maritime route.
