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fullscreen Huthimilis near Yemen’s capital Sanaa, which it controls. Archive image. Photo: AP/TT
The US labels the Islamist Houthi movement in Yemen a terrorist.
The group responds by continuing attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.
The Islamist extremist group has previously taken large parts of Yemen by force of arms, and it has close ties to and is supported by Iran in the ongoing difficult conflict in Yemen.
But President Joe Biden’s government directly refers the terrorist designation to Houthi militia attacks on merchant ships in the important Red Sea waterway. The announcement came in a statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States, together with Great Britain, responded by attacking several of the Houthi movement’s military facilities in Yemen.
The Houthi movement has previously been on the US terror list under former President Donald Trump, but was removed by the current government. A senior official told reporters in Washington that the terror classification would take effect in just 30 days, and that it could be withdrawn if the Houthi militia ceases attacks.
The attacks against merchant ships, both Israeli and international, are a support for the struggle of the Palestinian people, according to the Houthi movement. Its spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told the Qatar-based Al Jazeera broadcaster on Wednesday that the attacks in the Red Sea were continuing:
– We will not stop targeting Israeli ships or ships traveling to ports in occupied Palestine, he said.