A boat carrying urea fertilizer used to make explosives has been seized from the Gulf of Oman.
Dubai … News Time
The U.S. Navy says it has seized a boat carrying urea fertilizer used in the manufacture of explosives from the Gulf of Oman, while the British Royal Navy says it has seized 1,040 kilograms from those territorial waters. Illegal drugs have been confiscated. According to the French news agency AFP, the US Navy seized a similar urea fertilizer last year when it was being smuggled to Yemen. These were the latest operations in the waters of the Arabian Gulf. On the other hand, US and British officials have stepped up measures to curb the conflict in Yemen and the ongoing drug trafficking in the region. The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Middle East said Tuesday that its guided missile and surveillance ships intercepted and searched a boat. It was an unidentified fishing boat heading for war-torn Yemen to smuggle weapons from Iran. The U.S. military says it has seized 40 tons of urea fertilizer, a key component of home-made explosives. Authorities say the boat had previously been seized off the coast of Somalia and was carrying thousands of assault rifles and rocket launchers, among other weapons, last year.
UN experts say weapons with such technical features could be sent from Iran to help Houthi rebels. The navy handed over ships, cargo and Yemeni crew to Yemen’s coast guard earlier this week. It should be noted that Yemen has a large stockpile of small arms that have been smuggled through the country’s poorly controlled ports during the years-long conflict. Since 2015, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been fighting a Saudi-led military coalition for control of the country. Iran says it supports the rebels politically, but denies providing them with weapons, despite evidence to the contrary. Violence has raised sharply over the past week amid a stalemate in international peace mediation efforts. A deadly drone strike by Houthi rebels on Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates has also been claimed. Authorities also revealed on Sunday that a British Royal News ship had seized about 26 26 million worth of illegal drugs from a boat passing through the Gulf of Oman on January 15. The Joint Maritime Task Force said in a statement that HMS Montrose seized 663 kilograms of heroin, 87 kilograms of methamphetamine and 291 kilograms of hashish and cannabis.
