Yemeni Fisherman Martyred, Two Wounded as US Navy Fires on Their Boat Off Arabian Sea Coast

By Staff, Agencies

One person was martyred and two others were injured when a US Navy ship fired at an approaching fishing boat off the coast of Yemen’s southeastern al-Mahrah province in the northern tip of the Arabian Sea.

Yemeni media outlets, citing local sources, reported that a warship opened fire on the fishermen as they were roaming the Yemeni waters off the shores of the Hawf district in search of schools of fish to catch.

The sources added that three people were wounded in the attack, of whom one later succumbed to his critical injuries.

The development comes as foreign forces have turned most of fish markets in Mahrah province into military barracks and weapons depots, adversely affecting the livelihood of fishermen there.

Back in late July, a batch of US military forces entered Yemen’s Mahrah province, as Washington continues its aggressive attempts to establish control over oil reserves and plunder natural resources in the energy-rich region.

Yemen Press Agency, citing local sources, reported that the American troops landed at al-Ghaydah Airport on July 28 onboard a flight from Riyan International Airport in Mukalla, which lies on the shores of the Arabian Sea and about 480 kilometers east of Aden.

The sources, who asked not to be named, stated that the arrival of the US forces was followed by a major disruption to internet connectivity in the Sayhut district, blaming the internet blackout on the installation of sophisticated surveillance devices by American troops.

Earlier, a top-ranking Yemeni official said US and British military trainers had arrived at a port in Mahrah on vessels loaded with munitions as well as military and logistical equipment.

The provincial governor, al-Qatabi Ali Hussein al-Faraj, told Yemen’s official Saba news agency on June 26 that large arms shipments aboard military vessels disembarked at the port of Nishtun, and that British and American military trainers were stationed at al-Ghaydah International Airport.

“The Saudi-led coalition of aggression is involved in the smuggling and trade of narcotics in the area in order to perpetuate insecurity, advance its fiendish plots, and deter the local population from confronting the invaders,” Faraj said at the time.

The senior Yemeni official noted that occupiers and their allied Takfiri militants were trying to plunge Mahrah province into utter chaos and confusion as locals were fiercely opposed to the presence of foreign forces.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.