The situation in the Middle East is heating up on two parallel fronts.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched large-scale offensives against the internationally recognized government in the northeast and west of the country. At the same time, a huge oil spill from a tanker linked to Russia's "shadow fleet" is coming dangerously close to the coast of Oman, threatening to cause an unprecedented environmental disaster in the Arabian Sea.
Escalation in Yemen: Dozens Killed in Drone and Missile Attacks
The rebel movement “Ansar Allah“ (Houthi) resumed active hostilities, launching coordinated strikes on Yemeni army positions in key regions. According to international media, including the Russian edition of Euronews (ru.euronews.com) and the Israeli portal Newsru (newsru.co.il), serious clashes were recorded in the provinces of Marib and Hadramaut (in the northeast), as well as on the western coast of the Red Sea.
- The strike on the city of Moha: In an attack with 11 ballistic missiles and drones against the strategic port of Moha in the southwest, at least seven people were killed (four military personnel and three civilians) and more than 30 were injured. Yemeni air defenses managed to intercept some of the devices.
- The Marib Front: In the northeast, the Houthis attacked military camps of pro-Saudi forces, where dozens of soldiers were reported killed.
- The Houthis' position: Military spokesman Yahya Sari confirmed the attacks via Telegram, saying that the targets were “weapons depots and concentrations of the Saudi enemy“.
The new wave of violence is deeply undermining the fragile ceasefire originally agreed in 2022 and threatening to plunge Yemen back into full-scale civil war.
Russian oil threatens marine reserve in Oman
In parallel with the military conflict, a large-scale environmental crisis is growing in the Arabian Sea. An oil slick measuring between 400 and 800 square kilometers is moving northeast towards the mainland of Oman.
The source of the pollution is the supertanker “Caroline Bezengi“, flying the flag of Cameroon, which is part of Russia's “shadow fleet“ to circumvent Western sanctions. According to Reuters and the investigative website Meduza (meduza.io), in April the ship left the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk with a cargo of nearly 1 million barrels of crude oil. In June, an explosion occurred on board, after which the vessel ran aground near the Omani archipelago of Halaniyat.
According to the environmental organization Greenpeace (dw.com/ru):
- The spill is barely 7 kilometers from the coastline of Oman.
- The affected area around the El-Halaniyat Islands has a marine reserve, home to endangered species, including the Arabian humpback whale.
- Oman authorities and environmental teams are already conducting aerial surveillance and preparing an emergency plan to pump out the remaining fuel before the ship sinks completely.
The incident once again strengthens criticism from the international community against Moscow's practice of using old and technically defective tankers without reliable insurance, which maximizes the risks of global environmental disasters.