Nearly a hundred ships attacked by Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to the leader of the movement

2024-04-18 16:41:33

Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack nearly 100 ships “linked to the enemy” Israeli forces in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the start of their operations in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, their leader said on Thursday, April 18.

In a speech broadcast by Al-Massirah televisioncontrolled by his movement, Abdel Malik Al-Houthi reported new attacks against eight ships, adding that “the total number of ships linked to the enemy targeted by attacks has reached 98”.

The attacks produced a “great effect and were a success”he assured, affirming to the United States and the United Kingdom that “no one can stop us from carrying out our operations in support of the Palestinians in Gaza”. According to him, Israel and its allies “have no choice but to end the blockade and aggression in Gaza” to obtain an end to rebel attacks against the merchant navy.

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Repeated attacks since November

The leader of the Yemeni rebels also welcomed the Iranian attack carried out last weekend against Israel. “The response was vigorous both quantitatively and qualitatively, and it came from Iranian territory”did he declare.

In the context of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have been carrying out attacks since November in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where 12% of world trade passes.

First saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel, they then broadened their targets to ships associated with the United States and the United Kingdom, in retaliation for the strikes carried out from January by Washington and London against their positions in Yemen.

These attacks have driven up insurance costs for ships transiting the Red Sea and led many shipping companies to prefer the much longer passage around the southern tip of the African continent. Israel’s main ally, Washington set up a multinational coalition in December to ” protect “ maritime traffic without being able to stop the attacks.

The World with AFP