US Navy Busts Sailboat Overloaded With Small Arms in Gulf of Aden – Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The origin and destination of a small unflagged sailboat were not immediately clear, a defense official told the CNN news network on Wednesday.

The crew of the USS Jason Dunham boarded the vessel on Tuesday after being granted its permission. The destroyer was in the area for a Naval Forces Central Command operation.

🇺🇸 #USNavy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Jason Dunham (MMSI:366997034) had been operating in the United States Fifth Fleet area of responsibility, and went dark 2018-08-27 18:48Z, presumably to stalk the vessel.#USSJasonDunham #DDG109#AIShttps://t.co/PTHZcdm1gW pic.twitter.com/WifuDRBLT1

— Steffan Watkins 🇨🇦 (@steffanwatkins) 29 августа 2018 г.

The Gulf is reportedly used to transport weapons to Yemen. The United States, which backs Saudi Arabia’s coalition fighting alongside the UN-recognized Yemeni government, accuses Iran of arming Houthi rebels in the three-year conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations engaged in the armed conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels in March 2015 and has since then been carrying out airstrikes against Houthis.

According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, the conflict in Yemen has left 6,660 civilians dead and 10,563 injured from March 2015 to August 2018.

READ MORE: UN’s Yemen Report ‘Strongly Suggests’ Coalition May Be Guilty of War Crimes