US, partner seize 3K rifles, ammo, anti-tank weapons bound for Yemen: Military

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US and an unnamed partner nation seized 3,000 assault rifles, more than half-a-million rounds of ammunition and 23 anti-tank guided missiles during a joint naval operation, Central Command said Wednesday.

The weapons were interdicted in the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 15 along a route that has been used to send arms from Iran to Yemen in the past, the Command said in a statement. It did not specify which partner's navy was involved but said it was seized by that nation.

The nearly two-dozen anti-tank missiles were "advanced," it said, without providing additional details. A picture provided by the command appears to depict the weapons in cylindrical containers surrounded by rows of rifles.

The seizure is the fourth in the past two months, which have netted more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition that the US said were bound for Yemen where Tehran has continued to support the country's Houthi rebels.

Early in January, the US announced the seizure of more than 2,100 assault rifles after a fishing vessel along the same route was intercepted.