INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The leader of Yemen&s Houthis warned on Wednesday they would strike United States warships if the Iranian-backed militia was targeted by
Washington, which this week set up a multinational force to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Reuters
reported.The Houthis, which control vast amounts of territory in Yemen after years of war, have since last month fired drones and missiles
at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea, attacks it says respond to Israel&s assault on the Gaza Strip.The United States -led
security initiative will see Washington and ten other, mostly NATO countries patrol the Red Sea to deter and respond to future Houthi
attacks that have so far led to major global shipping lines rerouting around Africa instead.We will not stand idly by if the Americans are
tempted to escalate further and commit foolishness by targeting our country or waging war against it,& Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said.Any
American targeting of our country will be targeted by us, and we will make American battleships, interests, and navigation a target for our
missiles, drones, and military operations,& he said in a televised speech.The crisis in the Red Sea has grown out of the war between Israel
and Gaza&s ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, the latest conflict in the Middle East to pit the United States and its allies against
regional power Iran and its Arab militia proxies, read the report.The war began on Oct
7 when Hamas fighters stormed across the Gaza border into southern Israel, where Israeli authorities say the militants killed about 1,200
mostly civilian Israelis and foreigners.Israel&s retaliatory bombardment and invasion of Gaza, which Israeli officials state is aimed at
wiping out Hamas, has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the densely populated, coastal enclave.Iranian
proxies including the Houthis and Lebanese Hezbollah have fired rockets at Israel since the conflict began
The Houthis, meanwhile, have stepped up their Red Sea attacks, threatening to target all ships heading to Israel and warning shipping
companies against dealing with Israeli ports.The attacks have disrupted a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via
the Suez Canal and caused container shipping costs to rise sharply as companies seek to ship their goods via alternative, often longer,
routes.Dubbed &Operation Prosperity Guardian&, Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and
Spain, along with the United States , will conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.As long as the
Americans want to enter into a direct war with us, they should know that we are not those who fear them, and that they are facing an entire
people,& al-Houthi said.He warned the Americans against sending soldiers to Yemen, saying they would &face something harsher than what they
faced in Afghanistan and what they suffered in Vietnam.The post Houthi leader threatens to attack US warships if Washington targets Yemen
first appeared on Ariana News.
