Yemen's Armed Forces announced on Wednesday they had targeted the Saudi tanker Wafa off Yanbu in the northern Red Sea with several ballistic missiles, the eighth Saudi oil tanker struck since a naval blockade of the kingdom began on July 22.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the vessel was accurately hit, and that Yemeni forces had prevented 29 Saudi tankers from moving, forcing them to turn back to the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.

He said operations in the northern Red Sea would continue and expand "until all passages are closed."

The naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, Saree said, is being enforced in response to the "unjust siege" imposed by Riyadh on Yemen.

MNA