Houthis Launch Unmanned Boats With Explosives Towards Red Sea

A US Navy officer on Thursday said that the Houthis fired an uncrewed boat from Yemen toward international shipping lines in the Red Sea, but it exploded before hitting any ships. Heading toward shipping routes clearly to harm, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper of US Navy operations focused in the Middle East told reporters that the “one-way attack” boat was approaching.

Although the Houthis had previously employed uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to harass commercial ships in the Red Sea following the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict, he referred to the explosive boat as a “new capability”. He stated that this was the first time they had done so. The US Navy and commerce ships were among the couple of miles that the boat was within. Vice Adm. Cooper stated that they saw it explode on Thursday morning.

This incident occurred just hours after the United States, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, and other countries on Wednesday threatened to take “consequences” if the Houthi rebels in Yemen persisted with their “destabilizing” conduct and urged that they cease their Red Sea attacks. Per him, there have been 25 Houthi strikes on commerce ships travelling through the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea since November 18. Operation Prosperity Guardian is a new international mission that the Pentagon launched last month to thwart attacks on commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea.

Since the operation began on December 18, 1,500 commercial vessels have successfully passed through safely, per Vice Admiral Cooper. He mentioned that the Houthis’ strikes have not decreased. In his opinion, there are no indications that the Houthis’ careless actions are decreasing. Based on what military analysts who spoke to The National reported, American and British intelligence specialists are compiling extensive information in preparation for a possible attack on Houthi missile sites.

Vice Adm. Cooper’s briefing was the first in-depth public statement on the operation meant to safeguard shipping in the waters of the Red Sea, which typically accounts for 12% of global trade, provided by a US military official. Major shipping companies have stated they use a more expensive and time-consuming route through Africa’s southern tip to avoid the Houthi threat.

Reference: TheNationalNews

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