WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Treasury Department said on Thursday it sanctioned senior Houthi military officer Saleh Mesfer Alshaer, commander of the Houthi-controlled military logistics support organization.

“Alshaer has overseen the Houthis’ seizure of property in Yemen valued at greater than $100 million, using a variety of unlawful tactics, including extortion,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. 

This extortion, had been “used to fund the Houthi military effort,” and was “yet another example of Houthi actions fueling instability and increasing the already extraordinary suffering of the Yemeni people,” the statement added.

“Saleh Mesfer Alshaer is the principal Houthi military officer responsible for pilfering assets from Yemeni citizens and directing a campaign of seizures that further prolongs the ongoing conflict in Yemen by obstructing its resolution,” said Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki.

“The United States remains committed to exposing those who seek to exacerbate the crisis in Yemen by denying them access to the global financial system,” she added.

Alshaer’s actions, like the continuing Houthi offensive against Marib, where millions of Yemenis displaced by years of war have fled for refuge, had “contributed to the severity of the humanitarian situation in Yemen,” the Treasury statement said.