The US and UK’s “defensive” attacks against the Houthi rebels are not enough. Rashad al-Alimi, a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (the UN-recognized government of Yemen), said this during a press conference in Riyadh. Al-Alimi called for support from the United States and Saudi Arabia to “eliminate” the rebels' ability to attack ships in the Red Sea. “Defense operations are not the solution. The solution is to eliminate the Houthis’ military capabilities,” the Yemeni government official said. The situation is becoming increasingly critical. Just this morning, a fire broke out on board the Marlin Luanda oil tanker, which was attacked by the armed group. The response from the two Western countries, which have tried to take measures to combat the shipping crisis in recent weeks, has been swift.
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American forces have attacked a Houthi position in Yemen after Shiite rebels attacked a now-burning British oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden. “At approximately 3:45 a.m. local time (just before 2 a.m. in Italy), the US Military Middle East Command (Centcom) carried out an attack on a ready-to-fire Houthi anti-ship missile launcher in the Red Sea,” we read on X, where CentCom says it posed an “imminent threat” to American destroyers and merchant vessels in the region. The Iran-aligned rebels, who are stepping up attacks on commercial traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, reported last night that they had fired “missiles” against a “British oil tanker, the Marlin Luanda,” saying that the ship, “hit head-on, caught fire”.
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Rebel military spokesman Yahya Saree added that the attack was carried out in support of the Palestinian people and “in response to British and American aggression against our country.” The Trafigura group, which manages the Marlin Luanda, said no injuries were reported. “The crew is continuing its efforts to control the fire with the help of naval vessels.” Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said the United States and the United Kingdom carried out two airstrikes on the port of Ras Issa in Hodeida province flown to where Yemen's main oil export terminal is located. The rebels did not provide details of the attack, which was not confirmed by either Washington or London.