Sanaa: Houthi rebels have announced that they executed a targeted strike against a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, framing the operation as part of an escalating maritime blockade. In an official statement shared on X on Wednesday, spokesperson Yahya Saree stated that the operation struck the Saudi oil tanker “Wafa” off the coast of the port city of Yanbu. “With this operation, the total number of ships targeted by our forces has reached eight Saudi oil ships since the start of the maritime ban on July 22nd. Meanwhile, the total number of ships prevented and forced to retreat and return in the Red and Arabian Seas has reached 29 Saudi oil ships,” he said. Following successful efforts to tighten restrictions around the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the southern Red Sea, “the Saudi enemy moved to divert the route of its oil ships toward the northern Red Sea,” the spokesperson for the Yemen-based rebels said.