Houthi Rebels Threaten To Shoot Down Saudi Vessels With New 'Underwater' Torpedo

Yemen's Houthi forces have threatened to shoot down Saudi vessels found anywhere near Red Sea ports controlled by the Yemeni rebels with the newly launched 'underwater' torpedo missiles.

The torpedo, nicknamed Al-Manbab, is reportedly capable of hitting enemy ships from far away, although the exact firing reach remains unknown, Almasdar News reports Tuesday.

In retaliation to Saudi-led coalition's annoucement to shut down all Yemen ground, air and sea ports, the Houthi rebels said they could be deploying this newly launched anti-ship missile“very soon” targetting Saudi ships near the strategic port city of Hudaydah.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday that it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms from Iran.

The announcement comes a day after Saudi air defense forces reported that they had intercepted a ballistic missile in midair that was fired from Yemen over northern Riyadh. This follows another attack on October 30 when a missile was fired from inside of Yemen at a Saudi army base in the Aseer province on the border between the two countries.

The fighting in Yemen, which Saudi Arabia joined in 2015 to restore ousted Yemen President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi to power, is just one of the conflicts in the Middle East pitting the two powers on opposing sides.