Yemen's Houthis Move Drone, Missile Launch Centers to Mitigate Losses Amid Continued U.S. Strikes

The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group transferred missile and drone centers from the coastal areas and islands to the provinces of Al-Jawf, Amran, and Saada, in order to reduce losses, maintain offensive capabilities, and avoid being easily targeted by the international forces in the Red Sea.

Military sources told Sheba Intelligence that this decision came in during a secret meeting held at the headquarters of the Sixth Military Region in the presence of Iranian experts and senior Houthi military leaders, including Major General Muhammad Al-Ghamari, Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Sayyani, Director of the Advanced Command and Control Center, and others such as Brigadier General Abdul Hafeez Al-Hilali and Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Numairi.

The meeting discussed approaches to continue their attacks with missiles, drones and gunboats with the least possible losses, transporting and storing the largest possible number of missiles in Al-Jawf, Amran and Al-Bayda, focusing on the concentrated and painful strikes on international forces in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and Bab El-MandEb, and delegating field commanders to carry out all measures to protect camps, weapons stores, missile and drone launchers.

The Houthi military leaders asked the Iranian experts who attended the meeting to cooperate with them to provide jamming devices to help prevent the weakening of the group's military capabilities due to the U.S.-UK strikes on missile and drone launch centers.

The Houthis began transferring camouflaged missiles from weapons depots in Darb al-Naqeeb in Amran to Harf Sufyan, north of Amran. They also transferred missiles from depots in the Bilad Alroos, south of Sanaa, to multiple launch centers with the help of Iranian experts.

On Thursday, military sources told Sheba Intelligence that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has lost dozens of its experts in Yemen since the start of the U.S.-UK strikes on missile and drone launch centers controlled by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, which has repeatedly hit American, British, and Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Sheba Intelligence tracked the impact of some American and British strikes on the Houthi military sites and concluded that there was a clear effect on the operational capabilities and military movements of the group. The strikes limited the intensity of the Houthi missile, drone and boat attacks on international forces and commercial ships.

One strike was conducted on February 3, targeting a military manufacturing facility in the mountains overlooking the Presidential House in Sanaa. Ambulances were seen rushing to the area, and the facility's tunnels and warehouses were damaged.

Drone and missile launch platforms were also destroyed in Al-Hudaydah. Missile platforms and destroyed boats were seen in Al-Jabbana and Ras Issa camp in Al-Hudaydah.

Telecommunications platforms and systems were also destroyed in Jabal Al-Jada' in Al-Luhayah districts, besides weapons depots that were hidden in Al-Jar farms.

The international coalition strikes, which seem to have paralyzed the capabilities of the Houthis in Al-Hudaydah, prompted them to resort to firing missiles and drones from Al-Bayda, Saada, and Al-Jawf. Therefore, American-British aircraft began targeting missile and drone capabilities in Radaa and Mukayras in Al-Bayda, and the Kahlan and Baqim camps in Saada.

Military sources indicated that the U.S.-UK strikes focused on radars, which made the Houthis' offensive capabilities at their lowest level.

Some telecommunications towers were damaged as a result of the American strikes. However, military experts expected that the Houthis installed radar systems in the towers to overcome misinformation on the GPS.

A military expert told Sheba Intelligence that investigations are underway to reveal to which extent the Houthis have obtained Russian technologies to bypass GPS jamming.

Yesterday, the U.S. Central Command said it launched strikes on Feb. 8 on seven strikes against "four Houthi unmanned surface vessels (USV) and seven mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea".

However, the strikes have not deterred the Iran-backed Yemeni group. It says its attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel has been bombing since October last year.