The Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced on Thursday that 14 Indian nationals were rescued from a yacht off Yemen's Zuqar Island in the Red Sea after Saudi Arabia allegedly targeted it.
The Houthis claimed that the boat had been carrying 14 Indians when it was targeted by what they described as the “Saudi enemy”. They also pointed out that the Houthi-aligned Yemeni Armed Forces had rescued the Indians and said further details would be provided later.
The Houthis are now attempting to save the yacht, which they said was subjected to a "reckless act" by the "Saudi enemy", Brigadier Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, wrote in an X post.
"This reckless act by the Saudi enemy threatens international navigation in the Red Sea, and the international community must stop the Saudi enemy from such irresponsible actions," the spokesperson added in the report.
However, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not yet commented on the alleged attack on the yacht or the evacuation of the 14 Indians onboard.
The Houthi claims also come a short while after the MEA confirmed that at least one Indian national had died, and two others had been injured, after attacks on the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field in the Eastern Province on October 21.
"We also reiterate that the attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure are completely unacceptable and must cease immediately. We stand in solidarity with the people and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, and hope that peace and normalcy would return to the region at the earliest," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote in an X post on Thursday.
