The terrorist Houthi militia attack on the commercial port of Qena in the Yemeni governorate of Shabwa drew Western and Arab condemnations, and was described as an “insult to the basic principles of the Law of the Sea.”
The Iranian-backed militias targeted on Thursday the commercial port of Qena, located in Shabwa governorate on the Arabian Sea, with a booby-trapped drone, which led to injuries among the crew of a tanker that was unloading a shipment of fuel at the port.
It is one of a series of attacks targeting the two ports of Dabba In Hadramawt and Al-Nashima port in Shabwa.
The European Union mission and the diplomatic missions of its member states accredited to Yemen issued a statement condemning the attack.
The European statement described the repeated Houthi attacks on international navigation as “an insult to the basic principles of the Law of the Sea,” stressing the need for the Houthi militias to respect their obligations under international law, and to cooperate fully with the efforts led by the United Nations to renew the truce and reach a political settlement of the conflict in Yemen.
The ambassadors of the United Kingdom, France and the United States have also strongly condemned the Houthi attack.
“By launching yet another assault on international shipping and the flow of fundamental necessities, the Houthis have once again demonstrated their abject failure to prioritize the Yemeni people,” Richard Oppenheim, Jean-Marie Safa, and Steven Fagin said.
“Attempting to deprive millions of Yemenis from accessing basic goods through economic warfare will only exacerbate the conflict and humanitarian crisis,” the ambassadors added.
In the same context, Egypt strongly condemned the Houthi attack.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry blamed the Houthi militia for “obstructing the extension of the truce and causing escalation in Yemen.”
The Houthi militia, for its part, responded by mocking the condemnations and describing them as “provocative.”
In tweets, a number of its leaders threatened to repeat terrorist attacks to stop the export of oil from Yemeni ports.
A prominent militia leader, Muhammad al-Bakhiti, told the Western ambassadors: “We put your statements under our feet, and we are moving forward to strike any ship.”
The Yemeni government warned that it “will not stand by and watch” the Houthis’ attacks, according to a statement by Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani.
“The Houthi militia seeks… to impose a siege on the Yemeni people by stopping the arrival of goods and consumables through Yemeni ports, cutting the sources of financing the public treasury, and obstructing the government’s efforts to normalize the situation, provide services and pay the salaries of state employees and retirees in the liberated areas,” the minister said.
The Yemeni minister called on the international community and the United Nations to “adopt deterrent positions… move decisively to stop Iranian interference in Yemeni affairs, and designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization.”
