WASHINGTON: Houthi rebels in Yemen are threatening free movement into and out of the Red Sea with missiles, mines and other sophisticated defenses on a key strait, a top US general has said.
The Bab Al-Mandab Strait connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, a strategic passage for world trade.
Acting “with the support of Iran,” the rebels have deployed “coastal defense missiles, radar systems, mines and explosives boats that have been migrated from the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command chief Gen. Joe Votel told the House Armed Services Committee.
The installations threaten “commerce and ships and our security operations in the area,” he said. “I am extraordinarily concerned about another contested maritime chokepoint in the region,” Votel said.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is reported to support increasing military support for the Saudi-led coalition.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also recommended aiding forces from the UAE driving Houthi rebels from the key port of Al-Hodeida on the Red Sea, The Washington Post reported.
He suggested increasing air-to-air refueling and intelligence support the US military already provides the Arab coalition.
Meanwhile, the UN special envoy for Yemen said military operations are escalating and the humanitarian and economic situations are rapidly deteriorating in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed urged the UN Security Council to pressure Yemen’s government and the Houthis “to engage constructively” on political and security measures that he presented to them aimed at ending the war and creating a transitional government.
Ahmed told the council: “It is my firm belief that further military escalation and humanitarian suffering will not bring the parties closer together.”