Any US attack on Yemen’s Houthis will ‘not go without response’
Al Jazeera
Houthi leader says any US attack will trigger a greater response as the group steps up attacks in the Red Sea.
Any attack on Yemen’s Houthis on the part of the United States will not go without a response, the group’s leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi has said in a televised speech, as the Iranian-backed group stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Any American attack will not remain without a response. The response will be greater than the attack that was carried out with 20 drones and a number of missiles,” the Houthi leader said, referring to a strike on Wednesday, when Houthi drones and missiles targeted US and United Kingdom ships in the largest single attack yet on foreign vessels.
“We are more determined to target ships linked to Israel, and we will not back down from that,” al-Houthi said.
The comments come after the US and 11 allies published a joint statement last week calling for an end to Houthi attacks from Yemen on Red Sea shipping, sending out an implicit threat of force.
Various shipping lines have suspended operations, instead taking the longer journey around Africa. The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC), a key shipping industry group representing around 200 companies in Cyprus and abroad, said the attacks could have a “substantial” impact on economies and a knock-on effect on prices around the world.
