Yemen’s Houthis – News Agency nabakhabar

Red Sea tensions: Yemen’s Houthis ‘attack’ US carrier after deadly strikes

News Agency nabakhabar — Fri, 31 May 2024 17:39:39 +0000

Yemen’s Houthis say they have launched a missile attack on a United States aircraft carrier in the Red Sea in response to deadly US and British strikes on Yemen. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the attack on the Eisenhower carrier on Friday; the group earlier claimed that at least 16 people were killed in US and UK assaults on the Hodeidah province, the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from multiple rounds of strikes over the group’s assault on shipping.

The fallout from Thursday’s attacks was announced on Al Masirah television, a Houthi-controlled channel, which broadcast a video that appeared to depict wounded civilians being treated in Hodeidah. At least 42 people were reportedly injured.

“The American-British aggression will not prevent us from continuing our military operations in support of Palestine,” Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on X, warning that the rebels would “meet escalation with escalation”.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that attacks against 13 Houthi targets had “successfully destroyed” eight uncrewed aerial vehicles, or drones, in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and over the Red Sea.

The British Ministry of Defence said Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s conducted attacks on Hodeidah and further south in Ghulayfiqah. It described targets as “buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long-range drones, as well as surface-to-air weapons”.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the military action was a form of “self-defence in the face of an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose”.

Undeterred

The Houthi movement, an Iran-aligned group that controls much of Yemen after nearly a decade of war against a Western-backed and Saudi-led coalition, has emerged as a strong supporter of Palestinians in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 people.

The group has launched repeated drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November, demanding that Israel end the war.

Iran condemned the US-UK strikes as “violations of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity … international laws and human rights”, Iranian state media reported.

“The aggressor US and British governments are responsible for the consequences of these crimes against the Yemeni people,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

According to the US Maritime Administration, the Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping in total, killing three sailors, seizing one vessel and sinking another. This week, they attacked a ship carrying grain to Iran.

The campaign has forced shipping firms to avoid the Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 percent of global trade, rerouting cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around Southern Africa.

Since January, the United States and the United Kingdom have launched retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, aiming to degrade their ability to attack the vital waterways. But the attacks have done little to deter the Houthis.

On Wednesday, they said they had attacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier and several other vessels in response to Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

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Yemen’s Houthis damage oil tanker, shoot down US drone

News Agency nabakhabar — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 13:27:40 +0000

Yemen’s Houthis have damaged an oil tanker and downed another MQ-9 Reaper drone of the United States as they promise more attacks in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.

The Iran-aligned group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in his latest televised video address early on Saturday that “British oil ship Andromeda Star” was targeted in the Red Sea with naval missiles and was directly hit.

The US military confirmed that the group fired three antiship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea at multiple targets and damaged MV Andromeda Star. The vessel was recently sold to a company registered in the Seychelles, Reuters reported.

“MV Andromeda Star reports minor damage, but is continuing its voyage,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X, adding there were no injuries or damage reported by the maritime military coalition led by the US that is deployed in the area to counter attacks from Yemen.

The Houthi military spokesman also said its air defence forces in Yemen also shot down an MQ-9 Reaper attack drone of the US military with a missile in the airspace of the Saada governorate “while it was carrying out hostile missions”.

The US military did not comment on the drone, but US broadcaster CBS News confirmed that an MQ-9, which costs about $30m, “crashed” inside Yemen early on Friday and said an investigation is under way.

This is the third US attack drone shot down by the Houthis since the start of the war on Gaza, with the first brought down in November, followed by another in February.

The Yemeni group made no comments about further attacks on vessels in its nearby waterways, but the US military said the anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis also targeted MV MAISHA, an Antigua/Barbados-flagged, Liberia-operated vessel. It reported no damage.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also confirmed two attacks on a vessel – which appears to be MV Andromeda Star – some 14 nautical miles (26km) southwest of al-Mukha (Mocha) in Yemen.

It said a first explosion happened “in close proximity” to the vessel and a second attack, consisting of what is believed to be two missiles, damaged the vessel.

The Houthi military had reported targeting “Israeli ship MSC Darwin” in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, adding that it launched a number of missiles and drones at targets in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat.

On Thursday, the group had launched an attack on the US-flagged, owned and operated Maersk Yorktown, along with Israeli-linked ship MSC Veracruz, with US and UK warships defending.

The reinvigorated military activity by the Yemeni group comes after weeks of a relative lull when the number of attacks had dropped.

But the group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, in a speech on Friday rejected the notion that the decreased attacks are related to weakened military capabilities and promised that more attacks will be coming.

He also told large numbers of demonstrators in the capital, Sanaa, and elsewhere in a televised address that “a new theatre of confrontation” has opened up as the Houthis are now targeting ships in the Indian Ocean as well.

Houthis say they will stop the attacks in one of the world’s busiest maritime routes, demanding Israel stop its war on Gaza. The Houthi attacks have disrupted global trade and affected traffic at Israel’s Eilat port.

People in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen have been protesting in large numbers every Friday since the start of the war to express solidarity with Palestinians and condemn Israel and its Western allies.

The Houthis initially targeted only Israeli-linked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait but expanded to include US and UK ships after Washington and London carried out attacks on Yemen.

Houthi-run media reported that “millions” more took to the streets in governorates across Yemen this Friday as well.

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Why the new European Union naval mission won’t stop attacks in the Red Sea

News Agency nabakhabar — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 17:31:34 +0000

This week, the European Union launched a highly anticipated Red Sea naval mission to deter ongoing attacks from Yemen’s Houthis and protect cargo ships.

The Naval Force Operation Aspides is set to commit European warships and airborne early warning systems to the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and accompanying maritime territory. In a statement on X, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the move as a “step towards a stronger European presence at sea” and an essential crisis response.

But close military coordination with the United States and authorisation of retaliatory fire on Houthis suggest the move could escalate tensions in the Red Sea, not diminish them.

Brussels faces immense pressure to protect its economic and trade interests in the strategically crucial waterway as more than 90 percent of all goods to Europe come via sea.

The EU also wants to clear supply bottlenecks and prevent the rerouting of international shipping in the Red Sea. The latter has raised shipment costs by nearly 400 percent, and even threatened a tea shortage in the UK.

However, its new mission is big on military participation and risks potential confrontation with the Houthis. The limits to this approach were made clear by the US-led naval protection force that was set up in December.

It failed to curb rising Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping or establish any form of effective deterrence to protect global trade.

TRT WORLD / Houthis say they will continue attacks on Israel-linked ships in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden until Israel ends its carnage in besieged Gaza.

Brussels risks repeating that same counterproductive logic by committing more warships to sea. The mission has been described as a “robustly equipped military operation” that will ensure that no attacks are carried out “on Yemeni soil.”

Yet, the EU offers very little clarity on its leverage to end these attacks. Similarly, considerable ambiguity surrounds the EU’s ability to neutralise what Germany described as “terrorist attacks on the freedom of the sea lanes.”

Recent events put the EU’s maritime constraints into stark perspective. The Houthis appear in no mood to relinquish their military operations in the Red Sea, and the mission was announced on the very day when the group claimed a major attack on the British-owned ship, the MV Rubymar. The move was a sign of undeterred aggression and defiance toward naval coalitions in the Red Sea.

The Houthis also see retaliatory fire as due cause for sustaining attacks, and have increased internal recruitment and weapons procurement amid trade disruptions.

REUTERS / Demonstrators, predominantly Houthi supporters, rally to show support to the Palestinians in Gaza, in Sanaa, Yemen February 16, 2024 (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah).

Though the EU said its naval mission will focus specifically on intercepting attacks and will not participate in any land strikes, “continuous military to military” coordination with the US could turn EU ships into a target.

“The Americans, the British and those who coordinated with them must realise the power of the sovereign Yemeni decision (to continue attacks) and that there is no debate or dispute over it,” threatened Houthi commander Mohamed al Atifi last month.

The Aspides vessels will also enter the waters at a time when Washington is on the offensive against the Houthis. US forces recently struck an undersea drone in five “self-defence strikes” against the Houthis.

Washington has also deployed jets and firing missiles to aid current and future strikes. All this could complicate the EU’s hopes of establishing a distinct standard of “European defence” that doesn’t involve any participation in land strikes.

Thus, a year-long EU naval mission may not be enough to put the union’s Red Sea headaches to rest. Global shipping disruptions are likely to intensify as long as American forces, their naval coalition and Houthis continue to engage in extensive aggression.

In a series of recent strikes against Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and vessels, US Central Command made clear that it was acting against “an imminent” Houthi threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.

Now, Houthis face new pressure to respond, and have developed a metanarrative against the West to mobilise and further consolidate their fighter base.

Make no mistake: the path to restoring peace in the Red Sea runs through Gaza.

By ignoring these underlying conflict dynamics, the EU naval mission takes a gamble at deterrence in the Red Sea. So far, greater militarisation of the global trade artery has failed to assure the international shipping industry – a critical EU priority – that it is out of the throes of disruption.

Make no mistake: the path to restoring peace in the Red Sea runs through Gaza. Israel’s genocide against Palestinians helped the Houthis galvanise massive support for shipping attacks, and Western resistance to an effective ceasefire sustains that momentum to this day.

The Iran-allied group insist that their attacks will continue until Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is brought to a stop, and when besieged Palestinians have access to aid.

AFP / Palestinian children look on at a cemetery in Rafah, in southern Gaza on February 21, 2024 (SAID KHATIB/AFP).

The EU would have been well-advised to press its diplomatic and financial leverage over Israel for a ceasefire, rather than resort to a naval protection mission. The former approach would have allowed the European bloc to at least test the Houthis without their principal demand at play.

But instead, staunch supporters of Israel – such as Germany – prevent the EU from acting against the Gaza onslaught, a root cause of instability in the Red Sea.

If an expanded naval presence was any guarantor of stability and deterrence, peace should have prevailed months ago.

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US-led Red Sea coalition is weak because regional powers didn’t join: Yemen

News Agency nabakhabar — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:41:00 +0000

The US-led coalition meant to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea against attacks by Yemen’s Houthis is weak because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt did not take part, Yemen’s vice president has said.

“This Bab Al Mandab corridor is of interest to the whole world and to the region, so regional intervention is key,” Aidarus al Zoubaidi, Yemen’s vice president and head of the Southern Transitional Council, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday, referring to the narrow strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.

He was speaking at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

Zoubaidi, who opposes the Houthis, said the turmoil created by the attacks had taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s economy, which had already taken a beating during the Houthis’ conflict against a Saudi-led coalition.

He said the Houthi attacks on the Red Sea froze efforts to reach a peace deal in Yemen.

“How will there be a peace process with strikes on commercial ships, how will that happen?” he added.

Yemen facing ‘humanitarian crisis’

Late last year, the Yemeni government and Houthis both committed to steps towards a ceasefire.

The Houthis, who control north Yemen, have been fighting since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and left 80 percent of Yemen’s population dependent on humanitarian aid.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened against the Houthi movement after it ousted Yemen’s internationally recognised government from Sanaa, the capital, in 2014.

“The economic situation is very difficult. The rise in freight costs made food and medicine prices go up,” said Zoubaidi.

“The devaluation of the currency and living conditions for Yemen means we are facing a humanitarian crisis.”

Houthis to expand targets

Yemen’s Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include US ships, an official from the group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after US and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.

Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel’s more than three-month war on Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

The Houthi movement, which controls the most populous areas of Yemen after nearly a decade of war, has emerged as a strong supporter of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in its war against Israel.

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Yemen’s Houthis vow to continue Red Sea attacks after US-led air strikes

News Agency nabakhabar — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 19:30:27 +0000

The chief negotiator for Yemen’s Houthis said the group’s stance has not changed since the US-led air strikes on its positions, and warned that attacks on ships headed to Israel will continue.

US and British warplanes, ships and submarines last week launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which the Iran-backed Houthi rebels cast as a response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

“Attacks to stop Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Monday.

Houthis report new US air strikes in Yemen

He said the group still demands an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, and humanitarian aid deliveries to the north and south of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

“We do not want escalation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” Abdulsalam said. It was the United States and Britain that were militarizing the Red Sea with their warships, he added.

“Our communication … continues to clarify our position, and confirm that all commercial ships in the Red and Arabian Seas are safe, with the exception of Israeli ships or those heading to Israel, only and only,” he said.

Israel has regularly denied having links to vessels that have come under attack in the Red Sea, and several international shipping lines have paused deliveries or switched to longer, most costly routes.

Fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthis over Red Sea threat

“Our position comes from religious, moral and humanitarian principles … as well as in response to the calls of the people of Palestine … to support the oppressed in the Gaza Strip,” Abdulsalam said.

The US military said on Sunday a US fighter jet shot down an anti-ship cruise missile that the Houthis fired towards the USS Laboon in the southern Red Sea. “There were no injuries or damage reported,” the US Central Command added.

The Houthi rebels control much of Yemen after nearly a decade of war against a US-backed and Saudi-led coalition.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday demanded the Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and implicitly endorsed a US-led task force that has been defending vessels while cautioning against escalating tensions.

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Experts react to US and UK strikes against Yemen’s Houthis as fear of Mideast war grows

News Agency nabakhabar — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 18:32:02 +0000

While the targeted strike led by US and UK forces to deter “brazen” Houthi aggression in the Red Sea was necessary to stand up to the militant group and deter further destabilization in the key shipping route, according to experts and government officials, some analysts say the attack will harm a potential permanent ceasefire and not do much to deter the Iran-backed group.

The US military said, with support from the UK and other allies, that it carried out over a dozen strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen overnight Thursday, raising concern over a Middle East-wide spill of the conflict currently raging between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US-led coalition from RAF Akrotiri to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, in Cyprus, in this handout picture released on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)

The attack against the Houthis came after the militant group started bombarding ships in the Red Sea, which they say is in response to relentless Israeli bombardment in Gaza in its war against another Tehran-backed group, Hamas.

The Palestinian Hamas militants breached the Israeli border and launched an attack on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking over 200 hostages. In response, Israel escalated the decades-old conflict into an all-out war, indiscriminately killing over 23,000 Palestinians.

Israel is currently facing a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice brought on by South Africa, which is calling the military operation a state-run genocide. Tel Aviv has rubbished this claim and is facing its day in court on Friday.

Response to ‘brazen attacks’

A senior political scientist at RAND Corporation and Director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project Air Force, Raphael S. Cohen, told Al Arabiya English on Friday that the US and UK had no choice but to retaliate against the Houthis’ “brazen attacks.”

“In the short run, I think the Biden administration needed to respond militarily. It had warned the Houthis repeatedly over the last several months not to attack international shipping, and rather than backing down, the Houthi attacks only have gotten more brazen,” Cohen said.

“And so, as Biden said in his remarks, the administration needed to demonstrate both to the Houthis but also to the other maligned actors in the region that such behavior is not acceptable and will prompt an American response.”

The Houthis on Friday said the attack claimed five lives and promised to retaliate. A spokesperson of the militant group said there was no justification for the US-Britain attack on Yemen and that the Iran-backed group will continue targeting ships heading toward Israel.

“As for the warning from the Iranians and others about escalation, I would note that regional tensions were already rising well prior to October 7, as seen by the Houthi’s behavior but also in the rising number of attacks on US bases in Iraq and throughout the region,” RAND’s Cohen said.

Projectiles are being launched during a military maneuver near Sanaa, Yemen, October 30, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via Reuters)

“If Iran was really worried about American actions prompting regional escalation, then it should instruct its proxies – Houthis, Kata’ib Hezbollah, and others – to cease attacking Americans and American allies. As best as I can tell, they have yet to do so.”

“That all said, while I think the US military response was necessary, I’m more skeptical that any single set of airstrikes will deter the Houthis – or the Iranians for that matter.”

Effectiveness in question

A senior associate fellow in international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies reiterated the importance of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“It is rather extraordinary that the US and the UK bomb Yemen at this present moment, when the security situation in the region calls for a de-escalation moment, not a foray into a wider conflict,” Dr. H.A. Hellyer told Al Arabiya English on Friday.

“The Houthis are not a positive force in the region, but it has been abundantly clear why they began these disruptions to shipping lanes – the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the refusal to implement a ceasefire,” Hellyer, who is also a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

“That ceasefire is in the British and the American national interest, as well as a moral imperative, but we have refused to move for it. If we had done, there would have been no disruptions to maritime movements, and we still have that option.”

“Instead, I fear we are adding fuel to the fire, and we cannot be sure of where it will go. Moreover, I am not convinced that this will be effective in any case, the Houthis aren’t going to stop as a result of this strike, in my opinion,” the expert added.

Many in the US government have voiced concerns over the attack having the potential to break a fragile ceasefire currently holding in Yemen – a status for which American officials pushed.

Vehicles drive on a street, as Saudi and Omani delegations hold talks with Houthis, in Sanaa, Yemen April 10, 2023. (File photo: Reuters)

‘Send a message’ to Iran, proxies

In addition to protecting shipping lines, the strikes are meant to “send a message” to Iran and its proxies, an associate fellow with the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Program told Al Arabiya English on Friday.

“…the strikes are framed as an act of self-defense on the back of the Houthi attacks against American and British naval ships earlier this week. However, essentially, they are meant to send a message to Iran to reign in its proxies and as a warning that these strikes could be expanded to include other militias in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq as well,” Ahmed Aboudouh, who is also a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council and heads the China Studies research unit at the Emirates Policy Center, said.

Aboudouh said the short-term impact of these strikes are unlikely to deter the Houthis and can worsen the situation.

“In the short term, they are unlikely to deter the Houthis and might worsen the situation. Because the ultimate objective is to achieve deterrence and maintain US prestige and power in the region, they are likely to continue as the Houthis show resilience and defiance.”

“This means, turning the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden region into an increasingly militarized area. This, in turn, will spike insurance premiums for shipping and increase the cost as more ships diverge to the longer Cape of Good Hope route, with direct implications on food supply chains and global inflation,” he added.

As of December, Yemen’s internationally recognized government welcomed UN-led efforts to end the country’s civil war after the warring parties committed to take steps toward a ceasefire.

Yemen, the poorest Arab country, is largely observing a UN-backed ceasefire from 2022. The truce was supposed to expire in October 2022, but fighting has mostly calmed.

The latest attack stands the risk of renewing violence, Aboudouh fears.

“It could also prompt the Houthis to withdraw from peace negotiations with Saudi Arabia in Yemen. While Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states tacitly support the strikes to prevent the Houthis from wreaking havoc with impunity and limit their ability to increase their leverage in the ongoing Yemeni peace negotiations, they worry about the impact of expanding the Gaza war into a regional conflagration – one that could undermine their security and de-escalation with Iran,” he said.

In the long term, Aboudouh sees a strategic challenge to sea-born trade and navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.

Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. (Reuters)

“The region will witness more Western or regional naval deployments and reduced traffic. If the situation worsens, we may see Western or Arab troops deployed to drive the Houthis out of Hodeidah Port and some other bases on the Red Sea coast,” the expert said.

Global recognition of Houthis

The fallout could also positively impact the global recognition of the Houthis as the face of an anti-Israeli or anti-Western movement, he added.

“The Houthis profile will rise as an anti-Israel and anti-Western resistance movement and may gain the upper hand over the internationally recognized government in Yemen. They may be successful in banking on anti-American sentiment rife now across the region to promote themselves as real supporters of the Palestinian cause.”

“There is a serious concern the escalation may end the de-escalation moment between Iran and other Gulf States since Iran’s position may be boosted, having, so far, managed to pressure the US position on Gaza and score real gains regionally.”

“Ultimately, further escalation may force more US military involvement in the Middle East, potentially creating more room to maneuver for China and Russia in Europe and the South China Sea to consolidate their strategic posture while the US is increasingly occupied elsewhere,” he concluded.

A P-8A Poseidon attached to Maritime Patrol Squadron (VP) 8 flies over the guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) in the South China Sea. (File photo: Reuters)

Russia, historically an influential player in the Middle East and a known backer of the Palestinians, Iran, Yemen, and other Arab states, condemned the attack, calling the US and UK “irresponsible.”

‘Violation of Yemen’s sovereignty’

“The US-UK air strike on Yemen is the most recent violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and air space since airstrikes were conducted for the first time by the US in 2002,” a Chatham House research fellow told Al Arabiya English on Friday.

“The strikes are symbolic in their effect and mostly are in response to shipping and insurance companies’ pressure on US and UK interests. The targeted areas and military sites are really only peanuts in the wider context of Houthi weapon and military capabilities – especially their maritime weapons. They are savvier, more prepared, and more equipped than anyone is really acknowledging,” Farea al-Muslimi, part of the think tank’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said.

“The strikes are not surprising as they come after the Houthis ‘pushed it’ too much in the Red Sea and ignored all the calls to calm the situation – including a private formal letter sent to the group leadership recently by the UK on behalf of the international community. The recent UN Security Council session provides the closest to an international cover for the strikes, but clearly, no other countries are interested in openly joining the US and UK on these strikes,” the Yemeni writer and activist said.

He also said the strikes will not stop the Houthis but rather lead to an increase in Red Sea attacks.

Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea as demonstrators marched through the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza on January 4, 2024. (AFP)

“They will likely expand their attacks to US and UK ships and bases across the Arabian Peninsula. The Houthis by now have missiles and weapons and technology that makes US military bases in the Gulf very possible to reach,” he said.

Al-Muslimi echoed Aboudouh’s concern over the fragile ceasefire in Yemen failing, further complicating an already dire civilian situation in the country.

“This will also complicate the long-awaited efforts by the UN to resume its peace process in Yemen. This unprecedented step of regionalizing the Yemen war is only going to make this job even harder,” al-Muslimi said.

“Air strikes and use of force overall don’t make a great difference in what is an extremely complicated country like Yemen. Major Yemeni parties, and even Houthis foes, could not and will not endorse these strikes – at least not publicly. There is overall a huge sentiment against outsiders in Yemen. More likely, this will only increase support for them across the Muslim world, among Western leftist groups, and encourage further regional and global escalations,” he added.

“The strikes will also have a tremendous impact on food security and goods in Yemen. A nightmare situation will only get worse,” he warned.

“It is not clear how Iran will respond but it definitely prefers to keep the Houthis as useful scapegoat allies while trying to save the Joker Card it has; Hezbollah. Since October 7, the Iranians have been mostly content to observe from a distance. While some think that China would also be happy to watch the West dragging itself into another bloody conflict, they have actually been suffering too from the disruption to the vital trade relying on the Red Sea routes just as much as the West.”

“Similarly, Arab countries like Egypt are conflicted and tied by a need to stand up to the Houthis whilst not wanting to stay silent on Israel and the US’s stance on Gaza,” he concluded.

US, allies claim ‘self-defense’

The US government and its allies have defended the attack by claiming it was conducted in “self-defense.”

“In response to continued illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing Houthi attacks against vessels, including commercial shipping, transiting the Red Sea, the armed forces of the United States and United Kingdom, with support from the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain, and Australia, conducted joint strikes in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense, consistent with the UN Charter, against a number of targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen,” a joint statement from several countries, shared with Al Arabiya English, said.

“These precision strikes were intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of international mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” the statement said.

The Houthis have conducted more than two dozen attacks on commercial vessels since mid-November despite repeated warnings from the UN and most international governments.

“Our governments issued a joint statement on January 3, 2024, which called for the immediate end of illegal attacks and warned that malign actors would be held accountable should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways,” the joint statement continued.

“Despite this strong warning, attacks in the Red Sea have continued.”

The 44 allies reiterated that de-escalation was a priority in the Red Sea, warning further defense if commerce does not resume unobstructed.

In this image provided on Friday Jan. 12, 2024 by the UK Ministry of Defence an RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen. (AP)

“Our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, but let our message be clear: we will not hesitate to defend lives and ensure the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats,” the joint statement said.

Meanwhile, a statement from the UK’s Ministry of Defense, shared with Al Arabiya English, said: “The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond has already been active alongside US and French warships in defending vital international shipping lanes against Houthi drones and missiles. Given the persistence of the Houthis in threatening merchant ships, several of which have already suffered damage, and the deliberate targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on January 9, coalition forces identified key facilities involved in these attacks, and agreed to conduct a carefully coordinated strike to reduce the Houthis’ capability to violate international law in this manner.”

Four RAF Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a Voyager air refueling tanker, used Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct precision strikes on two of these Houthi facilities, Al Arabiya English was told. One was a site at Bani in north-western Yemen allegedly used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones, and a number of buildings supposedly involved in drone operations were targeted by the aircraft.

The other location struck by the RAF aircraft was an airfield at Abbs.

“Intelligence has shown that it has been used to launch both cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea. Several key targets at the airfield were identified and prosecuted by our aircraft,” the defense ministry said.

They added that the strikes were planned in a manner to “minimize any risks to civilians,” hence the decision to conduct the strikes during the night.

‘A blow’ to Houthi threat ability

“The detailed results of the strikes are being assessed, but early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow, and our commitment to protecting the sea lanes, through which some 15 percent of the world’s shipping passes and which is vital to the global economy, has been amply demonstrated.”

A statement from the UK’s Prime Minister’s Office, shared with Al Arabiya English, said: “The Royal Air Force has carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen.”

A missile is launched from a warship during the US-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen from an undisclosed location, January 12, 2024. (Reuters)

“In recent months, the Houthi militia have carried out a series of dangerous and destabilizing attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening UK and other international ships, causing major disruption to a vital trade route and driving up commodity prices. Their reckless actions are risking lives at sea and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.”

“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week,” the statement said.

“This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.”

Another expert said that the US and its allies have two challenges in their efforts to deter the Houthis.

“First, it is unclear for how long they’ll be able to maintain a robust naval presence in the Red Sea. Second, the Houthis possess compact and mobile capabilities that can be moved around and concealed, making it harder for US and UK forces to locate and target them,” Dr Hasan Alhasan from The International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Al Arabiya English on Friday.

“It’s also telling that traditional US partners in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkiye, issued statements that expressed concern over the potential for US and UK strikes against the Houthis to lead to further escalation. This suggests that the US and UK’s attempt to paint the conflict in the Red Sea as being wholly unconnected to the war in Gaza has so far been unsuccessful,” the Senior Fellow for Middle East Policy, said.

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US to Yemen’s Houthis: Stop attacking, start negotiating

News Agency nabakhabar — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 14:09:49 +0000

The United States says the Houthi armed group must show willingness to engage in a political process to achieve peace in Yemen, after weeks of renewed missile and drone attacks carried out by the Iran-aligned rebels on Saudi Arabia.

The leaders of the Houthi movement “need to quite simply stop attacking and start negotiating”, Department of State spokesman Ned Price said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in 2015 months after the Houthi rebels overthrew Yemen’s internationally recognised government and subsequently captured vast swaths of the country’s territory, including the capital Sanaa.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi territory in recent weeks amid fresh diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to end the war that has ravaged the most impoverished country in the Middle East.

The Yemeni group has defended the cross-border attacks, saying they are in response to deadly Saudi air raids in the country. On Sunday, the group launched a drone and missile attack at a Saudi oil facility in the Eastern Province, pushing global oil prices to the highest level in two years.

The Houthis said they also attacked military targets in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir and Jazan.

The Saudi-led coalition said most of the drones and missiles were intercepted en route to their targets and there were no casualties or property losses from the attacks on Sunday.

The kingdom said the Houthi attack on the Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura on Sunday took aim at the security and stability of the global energy supply.

The state department said the US believed the latest attacks were by Houthis and that they were “unacceptable and dangerous” and put civilians at risk, including Americans.

The state department comments came hours before the Saudi-led coalition intercepted an armed drone launched by the Iran-aligned movement towards Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, Saudi state media reported on Tuesday.

Last month, the US slapped sanctions on two Houthi leaders, citing their alleged roles in cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and shipping vessels in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign ministry said that Ankara was “concerned over the recent attacks targeting Saudi Arabian territories.”

The ministry called “for an immediate cessation of these attacks.”

Tit-for-tat attacks

The Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia have been engaged in tit-for-tat attacks for years, with the Iran-aligned rebels intensifying attacks in the past several weeks.

The renewed attacks on Saudi targets comes after US President Joe Biden halted support to Saudi offensive operations in Yemen’s war. Washington said, however, that it would continue to help Riyadh defend itself from regional threats.

Washington also reversed a decision by former US President Donald Trump to put Houthis on a “terror list”.

The latest escalation comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts by the US and the United Nations to reach a ceasefire that would pave the way for a resumption of UN-sponsored political talks to end the conflict.

Rights groups and international observers have criticised the Saudi-led war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and pushed the Middle East’s poorest nation towards an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

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Yemen’s Houthis condemn US move to brand them terrorists

News Agency nabakhabar — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:53:32 +0000

A leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Monday the Iran-aligned group reserved the right to respond to any US move to blacklist it after the Trump administration announced its intent to designate it as a foreign terrorist organization.

“The policy of the Trump administration and its behavior is terrorist,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said in a Twitter post. “We reserve the right to respond to any designation issued by the Trump administration or any administration.”

“The Yemeni people don’t care about any designation from [US President Donald] Trump’s administration as it is a partner in killing Yemenis and starving them,” he added.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman also denounced the move, saying blacklisting the Houthis, like the designation of Iran-aligned Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Committee chairman Falih al-Fayyadh last week, is “doomed to fail”.

“It is clear that such moves are mostly due to the very undesirable conditions of the US in West Asia,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said in Tehran.

“It won’t be far and away when they come and negotiate with these same responsible and Indigenous groups in different countries, including in Yemen. These moves don’t have serious value. These are the final days of the Trump regime.”

A leading aid organization on Monday warned Pompeo’s move would deal another “devastating blow” to the impoverished and war-torn nation.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main humanitarian agencies active in Yemen, said the designation and Pompeo’s planned sanctions on the Houthis “will hamstring the ability of aid agencies to respond” to the humanitarian needs of millions of Yemenis.

“Yemen’s faltering economy will be dealt a further devastating blow,” said Mohamed Abdi, the group’s director for Yemen. “Getting food and medicine into Yemen – a country 80 percent dependent on imports – will become even more difficult.”

Relief organizations have long warned that sanctions could prove catastrophic for efforts to help to starve Yemeni civilians caught in the conflict between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, backed by a Saudi-Emirati-led coalition that has waged war against the rebels.

Yemen, a country on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is the stage of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster after more than six years of a grinding conflict that has left most of its nearly 30 million people in need of humanitarian aid.

The war has killed more than 112,000 people so far.

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Yemen’s Houthis fire missiles, drones towards Saudi Arabia

News Agency nabakhabar — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 08:41:11 +0000

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have carried out their largest-ever military operation against neighbouring Saudi Arabia, targeting the defence ministry and a military base in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh.

Their announcement on Tuesday came after a Saudi-led military coalition battling the rebels in Yemen said it had intercepted and destroyed missiles and drones fired from the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

“A large number of winged ballistic missiles and drones targeted the capital of the Saudi enemy … pounding military headquarters and centres including the defence and intelligence ministry and [King] Salman Air Base,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech.

The Houthis said they had also targeted military sites in other cities including Jazan and Najran in the south, close to the border with Yemen.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Earlier, Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying: “Joint coalition forces managed … to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia from Sanaa towards Riyadh in a deliberate hostile operation.”

The coalition said it had also brought down “eight booby-trapped unmanned aircraft to target civilian objects and civilians in the kingdom”, as well as “three ballistic missiles from Saada governorate towards the kingdom”.

‘Big escalation’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mamoun Abu-Nowar – a retired Jordanian air force general – said the latest developments were reason enough to make Saudi Arabia insecure about its military prowess – despite Riyadh’s claims of intercepting missiles.

“Reaching Riyadh with that accuracy and targeting the ministry of defence and some other military [base] is a big escalation because the Houthis are winning now in Jawf and some parts in Yemen,” he said, speaking from Amman.

“This makes the Saudis insecure and unstable for any investment in the future and it’s a big threat for the Saudi defence air system which I feel is a bit weak to intercept such missiles,” he continued. “They need the THAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defence] system which intercepts missiles beyond the atmosphere.”

The attack came after Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that Yemen’s southern separatists – backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the country’s internationally-recognised government – agreed to a ceasefire after months of infighting.

The agreement aims to close the rift between the two former allies in the war against the Houthis.

Yemen has been locked in conflict since 2014 when the Houthis took control of Sanaa, and went on to seize much of the north.

Fighting escalated in March 2015 when the Saudi-UAE-led military coalition intervened to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Saudi Arabia was targeted with dozens of attacks using ballistic missiles or drones last year, including a devastating raid on oil giant Aramco’s facilities that temporarily knocked out half the kingdom’s crude output.

The long-running war has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, and forced millions from their homes in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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Yemen’s Houthis, ex-govt. hold fresh talks in Jordan

News Agency nabakhabar — Mon, 13 May 2019 19:34:58 +0000

The UN-sponsored face-to-face talks were held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Monday, Reuters reported, adding that the two sides were mainly to discuss the mechanisms of sharing out the future ravenous earned from the three flash-point ports of Salif, Ras Isa and Hudaydah, which have been under a tight siege by forces of former government, led by ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, since June last year.

“The UN and its special envoy are sponsoring talks in Amman … to discuss the issue of salaries and to make the economic situation neutral,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, in a tweet on Monday.

More than 70 percent of Yemen’s imports used to pass through the docks of Hudaydah, a lifeline for the war-ravaged country’s crippled economy. Salif was used for unloading all main types of grain and Ras Isa, a vital oil terminal, used for exporting Ma’rib light crude oil.

The lengthy siege pushed tens of thousands of people in Yemen to the verge of starvation and crippled the country’s economy. In an attempt to prevent the humanitarian situation from further deterioration and to avert a full-scale assault by the Saudi-led coalition on the ports, Houthis signed a UN-brokered agreement with the ex-government in Sweden in last December.

The warring sides agreed to pull out their forces from the ports in a two-stage process, the first phase of which from the Houthi side was unilaterally commenced on Saturday and is due to be completed on Tuesday.

In the first stage, Houthis are to draw back five kilometers from the three ports until Tuesday, while forces of the former government, backed by troops of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), currently massed four kilometers from Hudaydah, are to withdraw one kilometer fro, two other flashpoint ports.

The latter side, however, has so far firmly refused to retreat and Houthis denounced it for its provocative refusal, prompting Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam on Saturday to strongly call on the UN and the UN Security Council to press Hadi and the Saudi-led coalition to move in line according the Stockholm agreement.

Back in September 2016, Hadi ordered a decree to unilaterally relocate the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) from Houthi-held capital Sana’a to Aden, a southern port that currently serves as the so-called temporary “capital” of Yemen and the base for Hadi’s government.

By relocating the central bank, all Yemen’s ravenous were funneled into the so-called central bank in Aden, creating further deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Sana’a and other Houthi-run cities and towns. More than one million civil servants also lost their jobs as the result of the controversial move.

Under the agreement, the revenues of the three key ports would be gathered in Hudaydah branch of the central bank to help pay public wages. However, the share of each side, the Houthis and Hadi’s forces, must be discussed.

According to the Stockholm agreement, the UN will help in the management of the three key ports, which will be operating under control of Yemen’s Red Sea Port Corporation and local coast guards. The world body also will assist in inspection of ships.

In the second phase of the redeployment, both sides would pull troops 18 kilometers outside Hudaydah and heavy weapons 30 kilometers away.

Leading a coalition of its allies, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh, and to crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been significantly helping the Yemeni army against a Saudi-led military coalition for the past four years.

he imposed war initially consisted of an aerial campaign, but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground mercenaries to Yemen. Furthermore, armed militia forces loyal to Hadi, in line with invaders, launch frequent attacks against Yemeni people in regions held by Houthis.

The aggression is estimated to have left 56,000 Yemenis dead.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US, France, and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

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