The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group decided to escalate in the Red Sea, shifting from conducting special operations to a broad confrontation against the multinational forces in the Red Sea, informed sources told Sheba Intelligence today.
The Houthi Chief of Staff of the Houthi forces, Major General Muhammad Abdul Karim Al-Ghamari, and the leaders of the missile brigades in the capital, Sanaa, lately held a meeting and decided on the escalation scenario, according to the sources.
The meeting decided to deploy trained military units in Al-Hudaydah in anticipation of any ground attack by rival forces.
The sources pointed out that Al-Hudaydah has seen unprecedented preparations for war as the Houthi forces have dug tunnels and multiple areas were booby-trapped besides transferring ballistic missiles from the south of Al-Hudaydah to Al-Hawak, a coastal area in the province.
The sources added, "The drone unit at Al-Hudaydah Military Airport was prepared to carry out multiple attacks and deployed booby-trapped boats north of Al-Hudaydah."
According to the sources, a special control system for unmanned submarines was prepared at the port of Ras Issa, and repeated tests were conducted on it in the ports of Salif and Ras Issa; some of the submarines were booby-trapped to attack American and British warships in the Red Sea.
The U.S. Department of Defense also acknowledged that an American MQ-9 Reaper drone went down on Monday in the Red Sea off the coast of Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. Houthis said the American drone fell in Al-Hudaydah after shooting it down.
Today, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement its forces conducted yesterday four self-defense strikes against seven mobile Houthi Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles and one mobile Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile launcher that were prepared to launch toward the Red Sea. The forces also shot down a one-way attack unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and destroyed the missiles, launchers, and UAS.
On February 19, Houthis in the Red Sea fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the USS Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged bulk carrier owned by the United States.
The ship was heading to the port of Aden in Yemen with a grain cargo on board for the country's residents, CENTCOM said.
