Ansarullah, the Shiite jihadist terrorist group known as the Houthis, released a video on Thursday that it claimed showed its members boarding a Greek-flagged oil tanker. Sunion ” he shouted as he set off the bomb.Allah Akbar.”
The Houthis took control of Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and launched a terrorist campaign to disrupt commercial shipping in the Red Sea in late 2023. Sunion On August 21, artillery fire and civilian attacks were reported at sea, forcing the evacuation of the crew and leaving the tanker and its 150,000 tons of crude oil abandoned, creating a potential floating ecological hazard in the Red Sea. Sunion The ship is leaking oil – European authorities say it is not, but the Pentagon has suggested it is – and rescue teams are not approaching the ship to mitigate the damage, fearing Houthi attacks.
Houthi leaders have indicated, but did not confirm, that they would authorize rescue operations to prevent an environmental disaster, but as of writing, no such operations appear to have begun.
A fire breaks out on the oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea on August 25, 2024. (European Union Operation Aspides via AP)
Houthi leaders on Thursday released a video that appeared to show them boarding a vessel and planting explosives after rescuing the crew, demonstrating the group's growing control over waters in the Red Sea. International efforts to stop Houthi terrorist attacks on commercial shipping, particularly President Joe Biden's effort known as Operation Guardian of Prosperity, have completely failed to thwart the terrorist activities.
“Footage released on Thursday shows masked Houthi fighters carrying Kalashnikov-style rifles boarding the boat. Sunion After being abandoned, the bridge appeared to have been vandalized,” the Associated Press reported. Narration “The militants then planted explosives in the deck hatches leading to the oil tanker below. At least six simultaneous explosions are visible on the footage,” the Navy said in a report on the video on Thursday.
The terrorists can be heard chanting the official Houthi slogan: “Allah Akbar“Death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory for Islam.” The terrorists did not say when the video, which was apparently filmed by a drone, was taken or provide an update on the ship.
SOUNION (SOUNION) SOUNION كة المالكة لها بانتها ك قرار حظر الدخول إلى موانئ فلسطين المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/yGKgUNaIuh
— Army 21ye (@army21ye) August 29, 2024
Houthis Declared Israel launched a war against Israel in October in solidarity with Hamas, the same Iran-backed terrorist group that carried out an unprecedented massacre in Israel on October 7 and triggered a self-defense operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into Gaza, despite the fact that it is not a legitimate government entity with war powers in Yemen. Houthi leaders announced an operation shortly thereafter to cut off shipping to and from Israel, cutting off supplies and starving Israel. They subsequently extended this operation to American and British ships in response to air strikes on Houthi territory aimed at wiping out Houthi missiles and other shipping-attack assets.
But in reality, the Houthis have randomly attacked dozens of ships, many of which have no clear links to Israel. Houthi leaders have Sunion While facilitating trade with Israel, in reality the Greek-flagged ships were sailing from Iraq to Greece and had no explicit connection to Israel. Similarly, Houthi attacks have targeted ships with ties to Houthi allies and countries that the terrorists explicitly claim are exempt from attacks, such as Russia, China and Iran.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree Claimed On Thursday Sunion The ship's fate was sealed by “breaking” the Houthi blockade of Israel, but he did not explain how they did so or provide any evidence of the allegations. Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi claimed in his daily remarks on Thursday that the purpose of releasing the video was to show the “incinerating” of the ship “in support of Gaza,” according to a pro-jihadist Lebanese publication. Al Manar.
“Sayed Houthi highlighted footage of Yemeni forces attacking and burning the Greek ship Sounion in the Red Sea for violating a decision banning access to occupied Palestinian ports. [sic] “In support of Gaza,” the media reported, “Saeed Houthi asserted that Zionist aggravation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank requires firmness and confrontation, and condemned some Arab countries and the international community for their silence about Israeli massacres.”
Al-Mayadeen, another jihadist-friendly media outlet in the country, also Citation In a speech on Thursday, the Houthis called Israel a “disgrace to humanity” and accused the Israeli government of “genocide” in response to Hamas' massacre of 1,200 people in October and the mass abductions, rape and torture of hundreds more.
What you need to know: The horror of Hamas terror attacks on civilians in Israel's Kibbutz Be'eri
Joel B. Pollack/Breitbart News
The Houthis reportedly described the attack on the Greek ship as “brave and daring.”
“He revealed that two teams of the Yemeni navy boarded the ship in two stages and planted and detonated explosives to destroy the cargo,” Al-Mayadeen continued. “The Yemeni leader Sunion The ship was thoroughly documented, and the US claims that it was blocking Yemeni operations in support of Palestine were [sic] is incorrect.”
He argued that the Houthis had stopped carrying out terrorist attacks on merchant ships only because “there have been fewer enemy vessels” since their terrorist activities began in 2023.
However, other Houthi leaders Claimed Prior to the Al-Houthi speech, the group had announced that it would allow salvage teams to tow the ship from its current position to protect the Red Sea ecosystem. At the time of writing, the ship remains at sea.
