DOHA, August 1. /TASS/. Yemen’s Ansar Allah, or Houthi, movement has claimed that it forced eight Saudi oil tankers to reroute around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, according to a statement by the group.

"As part of efforts to enforce the ‘blockade-for-blockade’ formula and following steps taken by our armed forces to tighten the naval blockade of the Saudi enemy’s oil vessels, eight tankers were forced to change their course," the statement reads. The Houthis added that they would continue enforcing the naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and attacking its vessels wherever possible.

On July 30, Saudi Arabia and several other countries announced the establishment of a naval coalition to protect freedom of navigation, international trade routes and energy supplies through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. According to Al Jazeera, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, Qatar and Yemen have joined the coalition.

On July 20, Ansar Allah military spokesperson Yahya Saria announced a ban on maritime navigation linked to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led Arab coalition, in turn, said on July 21 that it would take measures to protect commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis later said they had carried out missile and drone strikes against two Saudi oil tankers in response to alleged violations of the blockade. The Arab coalition retaliated with strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah province. On July 25, the movement reported strikes on facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in the port cities of Jazan and Yanbu.