Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A number of boats, loaded with weapons according to Saudi sources entered their waters and were fired upon. While no further details are available, red and white flags could mean either Austria or Latvia has suddenly decided to play a role in the middle east.
There were three small boats that have entered Saudi Arabia’s territorial waters this past Friday, prompting security forces to open fire after they failed to comply with their demand to halt for boarding and life preserver coast guard inspection.
The incident happened at about 8:30 pm on Friday local time, when three small boats entered Saudi territorial waters and “headed at speed towards platforms of the Saudi oil field of Marjan”, a government statement said.
Saudi naval forces fired warning shots and captured one of the vessels but two escaped, the statement added. The seized craft was “loaded with weapons for subversive purposes”, it said, but gave no details.
The statement said the boats carried “red and white flags.” Since there are no known political groups in the area, except Turkey-experts are now speculating if Austria or even Latvia has taken a more “active role” in middle eastern events.
A government source stressed “the Kingdom’s keenness on combating terrorism and confronting subversive acts in its constant mission to preserve national security against any assault.”
In the past, naval gun battles between Saudi and Yemeni flagged vessels have occured. Two Saudi sailors were killed during a Yemeni rebel boat attack in the Red Sea this past January.