The U.S. military has warned that the growing threat posed by maritime attacks being launched on a near-daily basis by well-armed rebels in Yemen extends far beyond the Middle East at a time when the group is looking to expand the scope and sophistication of its campaign.
For five months, Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthi movement, has targeted international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, seizing one cargo ship and firing missiles and drones against dozens more with the aim of pressuring countries to bring an end to Israel’s ongoing war against the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza. Despite U.S.-led efforts to deter such operations, the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, announced Thursday that attacks would be expanded into the Indian Ocean.
In response to this warning, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command told Newsweek that “the Houthis continue to threaten all vessels that transit the Red Sea, so this is an ongoing concern for all nations that engage in maritime commerce in the region.”
But on the same day that the Houthi movement committed to broadening the scope of Ansar Allah’s maritime campaign, reports emerged of another alleged breakthrough for the group. Russia’s state-run Sputnik News Agency cited an unnamed military source saying Ansar Allah had successfully tested a hypersonic weapon for the first time.