AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia vowed on Tuesday to launch more “painful” attacks against the US and the UK, as the US Central Command confirmed the destruction of the Iran-backed group’s missiles.
The announcement came as the Houthis asked international ships involved in repairing internet cables in the Red Sea to get authorization from them to avoid being targeted.
Speaking to military officers in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, Houthi Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Al-Atefi said the group would launch fresh assaults on American and British ships as the two countries continued to bomb Yemen.
“Yemeni naval forces are closely monitoring all movements in the Red and Arabian Seas and our appropriate responses will make anybody found to be involved in such operations regret their allegiance to America and Britain,” Al-Atefi said.
The warning came as the US Central Command announced that two anti-ship cruise missiles were destroyed on Monday night in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and that the group had fired three ballistic missiles at commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea.
One of the missiles, launched on Monday afternoon, hit and damaged the Liberian-flagged and Swiss-owned cargo vessel MSC SKY II. No one was hurt in the incident and the ship did not request assistance, the US military said in a statement.
The Houthis said the ship was owned by Israel and that it was targeted as a show of support for the people of Palestine and in response to US and UK strikes on Yemen.
The group said the US and UK conducted three strikes on Monday in the Baqoum region of the northern province of Saada.
Houthi Telecommunications Minister Misfer Al-Numair said his ministry had asked that international ships involved in repairing damaged undersea internet cables in the Red Sea obtain permission to do so from his government.
He dismissed accusations that the Houthis had sabotaged the cables in order to put pressure on countries to comply with their demands, the group’s official news agency reported.
Analysts have said the Houthis might use the internet cables as a negotiating tool to win concessions from their opponents both within and beyond Yemen.
“It is not unlikely that the Houthis would threaten internet cables to punish the international community or gain concessions,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told Arab News.
The group might seek to take advantage of the regional and international disruption to try and achieve a political settlement to end the Yemen war, she said.
“The Houthis feel confident. They were never held accountable for any of their violations, including attacks on the Red Sea.”
Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East expert and mistress of Cambridge University’s Girton College, said the Houthis were seeking power and financial benefits by compelling foreign internet companies to cooperate with them before entering the Red Sea.
“The Houthis seek legitimacy and issuing permits helps position them as the recognized authority over the Red Sea,” she said.
“Regarding power, it enables the Houthis to strike deals and perhaps target more discriminately. The Houthis will also see this as a potentially lucrative new revenue stream. This helps compensate for their failure, thus far, to seize any of the major oil and gas producing regions of Yemen in Marib, Shabwa and Hadramout.”
