Yemeni security sources have revealed that the Houthis have lost contact with a large boat that was on a smuggling mission via a usual maritime route from the Horn of Africa to the shores of Hodeidah, overlooking the Red Sea. The sources confirmed to "Al Arabiya" that "the boat which communication was lost with was expected to arrive in Hodeidah last Thursday with foreign experts on board and a shipment of military equipment and materials used in manufacturing missiles and explosives." Eyewitnesses reported that the city of Hodeidah is experiencing significant security mobilization by the militias since Saturday evening, amid increasing fears that the vessel, with whom communication was lost, may have fallen into the hands of American and international forces. The sources added that the militias have deployed a large number of fishing boats to conduct maritime patrols to trace the boat's whereabouts and search for it in the Red Sea.
**Destruction of Drones**
It is worth noting that the U.S. Central Command announced last Friday that it had destroyed three Houthi drones in an area controlled by the group in Yemen. Meanwhile, Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Houthi group, stated that the group had targeted the ship Charisalis twice in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with a number of ballistic and naval missiles, as well as drones. Since last fall, the Houthis have been targeting cargo ships with missiles and drones, claiming they are linked to Israel, in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean.
