YEMENI armed forces have sunk an Emirati warship in the Red Sea in the latest blow to the Saudi-led invasion of their country.

On Sunday, Emirati news website the National reported coalition claims that injured civilians had been airlifted from a ship carrying medical and relief supplies after it was attacked by boats piloted by “Houthi militia” in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the early hours of Saturday.

“Coalition air and naval forces had started chasing and targeting of boats, which carried out the attack,” a coalition statement said.

But video released by Yemen’s Almasirah TV showed the HSV-2 Swift catamaran — a vessel formerly leased by the US navy — being shadowed at close quarters by a boat before it was struck by a guided missile and set ablaze in a huge explosion.

The missile was launched from the coast by Yemeni Republican Guard troops loyal to the recently formed Supreme Political Council government in the capital Sanaa.

The stricken vessel was sailing from the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab through the strait to the Yemeni port of Aden, the stronghold of the coalition and its ally, ousted Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Rather than humanitarian aid, it appeared that the ship was carrying arms to Aden.

Website War on the Rocks detailed early last month how the Emirati army had leased the disused military air and sea port at Assab last year to use as a staging post for forces invading Yemen.