Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels announced this Saturday that they have launched a wide-ranging attack with several naval missiles and 37 drones against US merchant ships and military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in the group’s largest such operation. pro-Iranian since the war in Gaza began five months ago.
In a statement on US warships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with 37 drones.”
“The two operations successfully achieved their objectives, thank God,” said the Houthi spokesman, while reiterating that the attacks “will continue in response to the oppression of the Palestinian people and the US-British aggression against our country.”
Sarea has not lowered the threatening tone towards navigation in the Red Sea, a strategic sea route for global trade, and emphasized that his group “will continue its military operations (…) until the aggression and siege are put to an end.” against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.
His statements come after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it thwarted a “large-scale” attack by pro-Iran rebels by shooting down 15 drones launched against coalition ships and merchant vessels at sea. Rojo and the Gulf of Aden.
For its part, the British Navy Maritime Commercial Operations (UKMTO) said in a statement on Friday that a ship sailing 50 nautical miles from Aden “reported two explosions ahead of it,” but that “ship and crew are safe.”
The Houthis, backed by Iran, have controlled large regions of northern and western Yemen since they took up arms in 2014 against the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
Since last November 19, they have launched dozens of attacks against merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, as well as towards Israel, in retaliation for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
The group’s spokespersons have reiterated on several occasions that the bombings that the US and the United Kingdom launched in recent weeks against their positions to protect shipping will not deter them from continuing their military operations in the region.
Their missile and drone attacks have intensified in recent weeks after being classified by Washington as a terrorist group.
The top leader of the Houthis, Abdelmalek al Houthi, threatened on Thursday with “new surprises”, after stating that his group has launched a total of 96 attacks with ballistic missiles and drones against 61 ships in the last five months, after the start of the war in Gaza the second week of last October.
