US re-designates Yemen’s Houthis as ‘terrorists’
LONDON: The United States returned the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups, as the militants attacked their second US-operated vessel in the Red Sea region this week and the US military carried out fresh strikes.
Attacks by the Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on the group’s positions. In a sign it remains undeterred, the Houthi movement said its missiles had made a “direct hit” on the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier.
Shipping operator Genco confirmed the attack, and said its vessel was hit by a projectile while it was transiting through the Gulf of Aden with a cargo of phosphate rock. Genco said there were no injuries to the crew and the ship suffered limited damage to its gangway and was on a course out of the area.
Hours later, the US military said its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region”.
The Houthi-controlled news agency Saba said US said British strikes had targeted several areas in Yemen, and a spokesman for the group said it would continue its attacks.
“The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people,” the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement.
On Monday, Houthi forces struck the US-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile. There were no reports of injuries or significant damage.
US officials said naming the Houthis as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” was aimed at cutting off funding and weapons the movement has used to attack or hijack ships.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein said an end to the war in Gaza was needed to remove the threat to shipping. “The security of the Red Sea is tied to the developments in Gaza, and everyone will suffer if Israel’s crimes in Gaza do not stop … All the (resistance) fronts will remain active,” Amirabdollahian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.