Houthi rebels in Yemen said Thursday they struck a pair of Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, the first known attack since the group announced a blockade of Saudi ships attempting to go through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week.

The Houthis said they hit the two tankers, named Encelia and Layla, using ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones, according to its SABA news agency. The Iranian-backed militant group also noted it forced approximately ten ships to retreat and return.

“The Armed Forces will continue their naval operations against the Saudi enemy and will persist in enforcing the ‘A siege for a siege’ equation,” they added. “We affirm to the Saudi enemy that any folly or aggression targeting our country will be met with large-scale operations deep within its territory, and the consequences will be dire for it, by Allah’s will and power.”

The rebels on Monday announced the embargo on Saudi ships “based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye,’ effective immediately.”

Roughly 8.7 million barrels per day in 2023 passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint at the southern mouth of the Red Sea, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That accounted for roughly 8 percent of the world’s oil that year.

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