Yemen's Houthis Intensify Attacks on U.S. Warships in Red Sea
Yemen's Ansar Allah Houthi group said today they launched a number of missiles at the USS Gravely in the Red Sea, an attack which demonstrates the escalating faceoff between the Iran-backed Houthis and the American forces.
Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, said in a statement that the Yemeni naval forces fired multiple suitable missiles at the American destroyer USS Gravely, which has been operating in the Red Sea off Yemen since last year.
He added, "The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that all American and British warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea participating in the aggression against our country are within the list of our targets…and within the right of legitimate defense of our country, our people, and in confirmation of the continued Yemeni support for Palestine."
Today, the U.S. Central Command said the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely has shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, according to U.S. Central Command. The attack was launched around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, a command news release said. No injuries or damage were reported, according to the release.
On Monday, the Houthis said they launched an attack on the U.S. warship Lewis B. Puller in the Gulf of Aden. However, American officials denied such a claim.
Last week, Saree said in a statement the Yemeni armed forces clashed with "a number of American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab".
According to the Houthi statement, the Houthi missiles directly hit an American warship, and the clash lasted two hours. The warship was protecting the two American commercial ships, which were "forced to retreat and return."
Despite efforts to counter the rising tensions in the Red Sea, the Houthi attacks have continued.
Yesterday, informed sources told Sheba Intelligence that the Omani-Qatari mediation has contributed to reducing the escalation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between international forces and the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group.
However, after an attack on the American base in Jordan, the sources expect the attacks to return as the American forces prepare to launch surprise strikes on locations accommodating Iranian military advisors in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Intelligence sources told Sheba Intelligence the Houthi group lately transferred ballistic missiles from farms in Bajil to the Alkathif coast in Al-Hudaydah, and the group is preparing to launch new attacks with rockets and booby-trapped boats on ships the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis are mobilizing forces from camps in Dhamar and Al-Bayda provinces to the areas bordering Bayhan Shabwah, such as Harib and Al-Juba, south of Marib.
Yesterday, the Houthi group accused the U.S. and U.K. of planning to provide aerial support to Yemeni forces to carry out ground military operations in Houthi-controlled territories.
Ali Al-Qahoum said the British and American forces have failed to stop the Houthi attacks on the Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Consequently, these two Western countries, according to Al-Qahoum, will push "mercenaries, including Saudi-UAE-backed Yemeni forces," to launch ground attacks on Houthi-controlled territories.
Since January 12, the U.S. and U.K. have launched a string of airstrikes on Houthi sites in many provinces to degrade the group's military capabilities. However, the airstrikes have not yielded the desired result as Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden continue nonstop.
