Houthis spare China, Russia ships from attack

Houthis spare China, Russia ships from attack | Daily Tribune

Yemen’s rebels are sparing from missile attacks Chinese and Russian merchant vessels in the Red Sea as they have claimed striking an American ship on Friday.

In an interview published by Russian outlet Izvestia on Friday, senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti insisted that ships not linked to certain countries, particularly Israel, were safe.

The Houthis have launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Israel-bound and owned merchant ships sailing through the Red Sea since the war in Gaza erupted on 7 October in support of Palestinians and Hamas terrorists.

“As for all other countries, including Russia and China, their shipping in the region is not threatened,” he said.

Attacks on vessels “in any way connected with Israel” would continue, Bukhaiti added.

The Iran-backed rebels have recently said United States — and British-linked ships were also fair game after the two countries launched airstrikes in Yemen in response to the repeated attacks.

Bukhaiti defended his group’s capture in November of the Galaxy Leader — a merchant vessel linked to an Israeli businessman — as “a precautionary step for everyone else to follow our requirements.”

The ship’s crew, who are still being held, “are fine, and we are giving them a warm welcome,” he added.

Chemical ship hit

The Houthis claimed early on Friday they have directly hit an American ship after the US launched fresh strikes on rebel targets the day before.

In a statement posted to social mediaa, the Houthis identified the ship as the Chem Ranger.

The US military’s Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said the Houthis’ two anti-ship ballistic missiles missed the Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-owned, Greek-operated tanker” on Thursday night.

“The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship. There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship,” the command said on social media platform X.

The specialist website Marine Traffic said the Chem Ranger was a chemical tanker sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait.

Ground forces needed

Meanwhile, the deputy leader of Yemen’s presidential council said Thursday that its military forces need foreign assistance to launch a ground operation that would back US and United Kingdom air strikes against Houthi rebels.

Aidarus al-Zubaidi, vice president of the Presidential Leadership Council based in the southern city of Aden, told Agence France-Presse the aerial barrage alone was not enough to deter Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.

“An international and regional alliance is necessary to secure international navigation in the Red Sea,” Zubaidi said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Zubaidi said a Saudi-led military intervention launched in support of the government in 2015, which has also involved air strikes, had been “insufficient” to deter the Houthis.

“Ground forces must be supported on the ground, and these forces belong to the legitimate government,” he said.

“These forces are the ones who can achieve a victory on the ground, because strong strikes without ground operations are useless.”