The US Navy has seized 1,400 AK-47 rifles and ammunition from a fishing boat it claimed was smuggling weapons from Iran to Huthi rebels in war-torn Yemen.
Summary
- Yemen has been wracked by civil war since 2014, pitting Iran-backed Huthi rebels against the internationally-recognised government.
- “US 5th Fleet ships seized approximately 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition from a stateless fishing vessel,” a US navy statement Wednesday read.
- “The stateless vessel was assessed to have originated in Iran and transited international waters along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to the Huthis in Yemen.”
- Riyadh has said that its 2015 intervention in Yemen was aimed at preventing an Iranian ally taking power on its doorstep.
- In recent days, fighting in Yemen has seen Saudi-led coalition forces carry out air strikes on the rebel-held capital Sanaa.