At a time when the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group was testing a missile in Radaa, Al-Bayda, as part of its new air defense system it had recently acquired, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov received the Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam in Moscow on Thursday.
Military sources told Sheba Intelligence that the Houthis are interested in obtaining air defense systems to counter international coalition warplanes that recently launched several strikes on Houthi sites.
The sources confirmed that the U.S.-UK airstrikes targeted a Sanaa factory for assembling missiles, which contained raw materials and parts for ballistic missiles.
The strikes prompted the Houthi War Council to transfer the contents of the strategic depots to small and multiple stores in several provinces to mitigate the losses.
According to the sources, the Houthi War Council discussed the recent American-British strikes, and the Council had taken the U.S.-UK statements about their long-term operations in Yemen seriously.
The sources added, "The group is studying options with the Iranian advisors present in Yemen while continuing to escalate and prepare for an asymmetric war in the Red Sea and the Yemeni coasts."
The sources indicated that the Houthis are expecting an attack by the American and British naval forces on the ports of Al-Salif and Al-Hudaydah and other Yemeni islands, such as Kamaran Island, which is under the Houthi control.
The Houthis fear that the attack by international forces will be accompanied by another attack by the UAE-backed forces stationed on the West Coast or forces in Shabwah, and Al-Dhale. This prompted the Houthis to launch preventive attacks.
The sources told Sheba Intelligence that the Houthi group strengthened its stocks of ballistic and winged missiles, drones, Naval Mines ,and remote-controlled suicide boats to confront potential developments that they expect to occur after a truce in Gaza.
The sources confirmed that the Houthis in cooperation with Iranian advisors and the axis of resistance in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, have begun using other routes of arms smuggling to Yemen to bypass the American, British, and international forces in the Red Sea.
The sources quoted the Houthis as saying that intelligence information they received expected a joint British-American operation to liberate the Israeli-linked ship Galaxy Leader, which the Houthis seized on November 19 off Al-Hudaydah.
However, according to the sources, the Houthi have begun intensive preparations for confrontation with any troops that might attempt to restore the ship by force.
The sources added, "Forces have been trained and mobilized since November in the mountains and islands near Al-Hudaydah. The group discussed the possibility of blowing up the ship in the event of an attempt to recover it by force. But the Houthi still fear the consequences of international reactions."
The Houthi War Council recommended the intensification of foreign diplomacy, such as communicating with the parliaments of European countries to prevent their participation in any operations in the Red Sea and exchanging information with Russia and China to ensure that the Security Council is not dragged into a military operation against the Yemeni group.
Abdulmalek Al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi group, said the Yemeni operations will not stop in support of Palestinians in Gaza. He stated in a speech yesterday, "Our country will continue its operations until medicine and food reach all residents of Gaza and …until the Zionist crime stops."
Al-Houthi added that the U.S. is attacking Yemen to protect Israel, and it uses deception to attract other nations to safeguard the "Zionist crime." Regarding the U.S.-UK airstrikes on Yemen, he said such strikes will be counterproductive and will not affect his will and determination or the military capabilities of the group.
The latest Houthi attacks on ships happened on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. Central said the Houthi group fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the U.S.-flagged, owned, and operated container ship M/V Maersk Detroit, transiting the Gulf of Aden.According to the Central Command, there were no injuries or damage to the ship.
