The US Navy announced that it had seized 1,400 AK rifles and more than 226,000 rounds of ammunition from a stateless fishing boat in the Arabian Sea.
“The Storm and Typhoon patrol boats discovered weapons during a search in the Arabian Sea on December 21 and were transferred to the destroyer O’Kane for destruction. This stateless fishing boat was allowed to leave. It came from Iran and was used along a road. The route for the illegal transfer of weapons to the Houthi insurgents in Yemen is moving in international waters, “Navy 5th Fleet America A statement was issued yesterday.

The number of AK guns and ammunition seized by the U.S. Navy on a fishing boat on December 21. Photo: U.S. Navy.
The five crew members on the ship claimed to be Yemeni citizens and will be repatriated to the country. The U.S. Navy sank the fishing boat after capturing the crew and confiscating its weapons. The statement read: “The sale and transfer of weapons to the Houthi Movement, whether directly or indirectly, violates the UN Security Council resolutions and US sanctions.”
The US Navy has repeatedly confiscated the weapons of stateless fishing and merchant ships in the area.
In May, the Monterey cruiser seized a large number of Russian and Chinese-made weapons, including dozens of guided anti-tank missiles, thousands of Type 56 rifles and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rifle grenade launchers. Merchant ships marked one of the largest weapon seizures in the Arabian Sea. The American official said that the ship from Iran may be delivering weapons to the Houthi rebels.
Since the Houthi armed forces occupied parts of the country at the end of 2014, conflicts broke out in Yemen, including the capital Sana’a, which threatened the internationally recognized government of the exiled President Abdullab Mansour Hadi.
The Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention in Yemen in March 2015 to repel the Houthi forces and restore the Hadi government. Iran supports the Houthi rebels and is accused of providing many modern weapons to the organization, but Tehran denies all allegations.
Takehide (follow Reuters)