Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni terrorist group Ansarullah, boasted in a nationwide address on Thursday that his group’s jihadists had turned a US aircraft carrier into an “obsolete weapon.”
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital Sanaa and receive significant support from terror-sponsoring state Iran, declared war on Israel in October in support of fellow jihadist terrorist group Hamas. The Houthis, known as the Houthis, have made their major contribution to terrorism in the Middle East through attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, where they have indiscriminately attacked civilian vessels in the region using drones, missiles and other often primitive weapons. The attacks have resulted in high shipping rates and a sharp decline in Egypt’s toll revenues from the Suez Canal, as many companies reroute their ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
The Houthis have also done so much damage to confidence in global shipping that the international shipping industry published an outraged letter in June calling on governments to take more decisive action to protect civilian vessels in the Red Sea.
President Joe Biden announced the formation of an international coalition, Operation Guardian of Prosperity, in December to counter this threat. The operation has raised doubts from the start, with the Department of Defense not disclosing all of the countries that have pledged to participate or what exactly it plans to do to protect ships in the Red Sea. Operation Guardian of Prosperity is officially ongoing as of this writing, but the Biden administration has provided little information about actions taken within the scope of the operation or how it is thwarting Houthi attacks.
The terrorist group’s leader, Houthi, in a speech on Thursday that coincided with America’s Independence Day, mocked U.S. attempts to secure global shipping.
Fighter jets maneuver on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (Associated Press/Bernat Almangue)
“The fighting in the Red Sea has proven that the US aircraft carrier is an outdated weapons system and not worth spending money on,” Al-Houthi declared, translated by Iran’s state propaganda agency. Press TV.
“US attempts to conduct maritime operations in Yemen have been ineffective and have not yielded promising results so far,” the Houthi leader claimed. “The US has come to realise the military strength of the Yemeni army.”
Abdul Malik al-Houthi claimed that his terrorists carried out 12 “operations” against forces allegedly linked to Israel in the past week, according to Hezbollah-affiliated media reports. Al Mayadeen The country used naval vessels, as well as 20 ballistic and cruise missiles and one drone to attack the news network.
The Houthis also boasted that Washington was “withdrawing” from the Red Sea and that “the United States is reassessing its capabilities, tactics and methods.”
“US warships in the Red Sea are being pursued by missiles and drones and are fleeing at full speed,” he claimed.
Houthi terrorists Claim The Houthis have attacked 162 “Israeli-related” ships since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, which left an estimated 1,200 people dead and involved widespread torture, gang rape and other atrocities. However, the Houthis have not consistently provided accurate information about their activities. Independent reports say they Release Between November and June, there were more than 70 attacks, including on the Belize-flagged MV Rubymar In February, Greek-owned M.V. Private Tutor – Attacks on several ships linked to Houthi allies.
Ansarullah claims to only be attacking Israeli, US and British ships. The British and US ships are intended to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack shipping in the Red Sea in retaliation for Yemeni airstrikes. But in reality, Houthi attacks appear to be targeting merchant ships at random. An assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) this week said the Houthi attacks were: to be influenced Sixty-five countries have joined the attacks, including those friendly to the Houthis such as Russia, China and their largest backer, Iran. Some of the attacks have targeted ships formerly owned by the US or Britain, suggesting the Houthis are using outdated intelligence in choosing their targets.
Related: U.S. forces attack Houthi base in Red Sea in show of defense
The shipping industry has shown signs that it doesn’t expect the attacks to end anytime soon. The CEO of Maarsk, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, lamented in a statement Monday that the additional costs to business caused by Houthi attacks will likely become even more “entrenched” because world powers have not taken any meaningful steps to stop them.
“We don’t yet know exactly how much of these costs we will be able to recover, and for how long. The rate increases we are seeing today are temporary,” said Maersk CEO Vincent Clercq, who lamented that attempts to urge U.S. and European officials to take more decisive action against the Houthis have “failed.”
A statement released in June and signed by more than a dozen shipping industry companies expressed similar frustrations.
“This is an unacceptable situation and these attacks must stop immediately,” the statement said. “We call on countries with influence in the region to protect innocent sailors and quickly de-escalate the situation in the Red Sea.”
“We have heard the condemnation and appreciate the words of support, but we urgently demand action to stop this unlawful attack on key workers and this vital industry,” the companies demanded.
