The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday that an attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on its vessel in a strategic Red Sea shipping lane off the coast of Yemen at the weekend was an "act of terrorism." The vessel, an Australian-built high speed logistics catamaran, was attacked by Houthi militias near Bab Al-Mandab strait off Yemen's southern coast on Saturday. The coalition rescued its civilian passengers. The United Arab Emirates said that there were injuries among civilian crewmen of the vessel. The Foreign Ministry said they were receiving treatment in the UAE. It said the ship is "civilian" and "does not have any military capability." "The targeting of the civilian ship in an international channel has serious implications for freedom of navigation, and is an act of terror," the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM. The UN on Wednesday condemned the attack on the vessel and said it took threats to shipping around Bab Al-Mandeb "extremely seriously." The Security Council stressed the need for exercise of freedom of navigation in and around the strait. In 2013, more than 3.4 million barrels of oil passed through the 20-km- (12-mile-) wide Bab Al-Mandab each day, the US Energy Information Administration says. In Cairo, the Arab League Council strongly condemned the attack on the vessel which was sailing to Aden to deliver relief and medical assistance to needy Yemenis and evacuate some injured Yemenis to receive medical treatment in UAE. In a statement at the conclusion of its extraordinary session held at the permanent representatives level presided over by Tunisia, the Arab League said the attack was yet another flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law, was contrary to all international laws and norms and a threat to the international navigation. The Arab League demanded the UN and the Security Council to act swiftly to put an end to such terrorist acts committed by the Houthi militias and their supporters, and hold the suppliers of the Houthis responsible for acts of international piracy and terrorism. Turkey also denounced the attack against the vessel, noting that it was a threat to international navigation. It also condemned the Houthi militias and the supporters of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh for unilateral decisions in Yemen, latest of which was the formation of a salvage government in the country. Turkish Ambassador to Yemen Levent Eler said during an audience with the Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi in Riyadh that such steps constitute another obstacle to peace in Yemen.
