US Navy seizes thousands of guns bound for Yemen’s Houthis
The US military said the boat, which was carrying the AK-47 cache, came from Iran.
The US Navy announced Wednesday it seized a shipment of some 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and more than 200,000 rounds of ammunition in the Arabian Sea earlier this week.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet said the stateless ship carrying the weapons had originated from Iran and was bound for Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to fight for control of that country.
The vessel transited a route typically used to traffic weapons to Yemen, the Navy said in a statement. The boat’s five crew members claimed to be Yemeni and will be returned to that country, 5th Fleet said, after Coast Guard and Navy personnel intercepted the vessel on Monday.
The US military regularly interdicts weapons and drug shipments in the Persian Gulf region, with particular focus on arms flows to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who ousted Yemen’s government in 2015. The US has intercepted around 8,700 trafficked weapons this year so far.
