Rabat – Morocco has renewed concerns about the situation in Yemen following Friday’s Houthi attacks on the al-Dhabba oil terminal in Hadramawt.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita conveyed Morocco’s concerns during a phone call with Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak on Saturday.
During the phone call, the Moroccan FM reiterated “Morocco’s full solidarity with Yemen and its legitimate government.”
The Moroccan minister also emphasized that his country“strongly condemns the attack perpetrated by the Houthi militia on Friday, October 21, against an oil terminal” at the port of Al-Dabba in the province of Hadramawt.
Yemen said Houthi drones attacked the oil terminal as oil tanker Nissos was “preparing to enter the terminal,” according to Reuters.
The oil tanker was “scheduled to load 2 million barrels of crude from the terminal,” Reuters added.
Houthi rebels have taken responsibility for the attacks, saying that Friday’s attack was a “minor warning to prevent a ship attempting to loot crude oil from the Al-Dabba Port.”
Many have condemned the recent attack, including the UN.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg condemned the attack on Saturday, emphasizing that such an act was “ a deeply worrying military escalation.”
The UN envoy also called on all parties to show “utmost restraint and double their efforts to renew and expand the truce and lay the groundwork for a permanent ceasefire, and activate a political process to end the conflict.”
The US and EU also denounced the attack.
The US Embassy in Yemen called on the Houthis to “immediately halt such attacks,” stressing that these acts are an “affront to navigational rights and freedoms.”
The EU Delegation to Yemen also warned that the Houthi attacks on international shipping are an “affront to core principles of the Law of the Sea, jeopardizing freedom of navigation through the region’s waterways and blocking access to Yemeni ports.”
