Yemen Rebels Threaten to Use New Weapon

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Yemen’s Houthi forces have threatened to shoot down Saudi vessels found anywhere near Red Sea ports controlled by the rebels with the newly launched ‘underwater’ torpedo missiles.

The torpedo, nicknamed Al-Manbab, is reportedly capable of hitting enemy ships from far away, although the exact firing reach remains unknown.

A video shows what appears to be a number of rockets on static display. Each projectile featured a warhead, several stabilizers and a tail. Shiite rebels, backed by Iran, claimed the new weapon could be deployed “very soon” against Saudi warships blockading Yemeni ports. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the video is authentic and the torpedoes are operational, according to rt.com.

In retaliation to Saudi-led coalition’s announcement to shut down all Yemen ground, air and sea ports, the Houthi rebels said they could be deploying this newly launched anti-ship missile “very soon” targeting Saudi ships near the strategic port city of Hudaydah.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen said that it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms from Iran.

According to defenseworld.net, the announcement comes after Saudi air defense forces reported that they had intercepted a ballistic missile in midair that was fired from Yemen over northern Riyadh. This follows another attack on October 30 when a missile was fired from inside of Yemen at a Saudi army base in the Aseer province on the border between the two countries. In October, the rebels launched a failed missile attack against a US Navy destroyer.