AL-MUKALLA: The EU naval mission in the Red Sea has said that its warships have provided security to 300 ships while traveling in commerce routes off Yemen and have destroyed 22 drones, drone boats, and ballistic missiles launched by the Yemeni militia during the past six months.
No new assaults on ships have been claimed by the Houthis in the last two weeks, indicating another pause in their campaign.
On Monday the EU naval mission, known as EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, said in a post on X: “As we reach the six-month milestone since the initiation of the operation, we remain committed to our mission and the core values of the European Union.”
The EU announced it was launching a naval mission based in the Red Sea on Feb. 19 to safeguard ships traveling through the important maritime channel from Houthi drone, missile, and drone boat strikes.
Since November, the Houthis have seized one commercial ship, sunk two others, and fired hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and remotely controlled boats at ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in a campaign that the Yemeni militia claims is intended to put pressure on Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the Houthis’ continuous threats of vengeance, assaults on ships have significantly decreased since July 20, when Israel launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah for the first time.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea has not claimed credit for fresh assaults on any ships since Aug. 7.
The Yemeni militia claimed that they postponed their response to the Israeli operation in Hodeidah in order to make it “more effective.”
This comes as Rashad Al-Alimi, head of the internationally recognized Yemeni government’s Presidential Leadership Council, accused the Houthis on Tuesday of undermining efforts to end the war on the country and attempting to bankrupt his government.
Speaking in the southern city of Aden after accepting foreign ambassador-designate credentials to Yemen, Al-Alimi urged the international community to punish the Houthis for attacking ships in the Red Sea and elsewhere, cracking down on civil society and aid organizations, and impeding peace talks.
“The peace process has remained stalled because of the militia’s intransigence and its preference of the interests of its supporters over the interests of the Yemeni people,” he said.
Meanwhile, 14 people were killed by lightning in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah, as the National Center of Meteorology warned on Tuesday of severe weather in the following 24 hours.
According to the Houthi-run Saba news agency, lightning killed three people in Abbes, three more in Kuhlan Affar, and eight more in other regions of Hajjah over the past several days.
Heavy rains caused flash floods in Hodeidah, Ibb, Hajjah, Sanaa, Marib, and other Yemen provinces, killing over 100 people and displacing hundreds more since late last month.
