MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. Muhammad al-Bakhiti, a member of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) political bureau, assured that ships from Russia and China are not under threat while sailing in the Red Sea.
"As far as ships from all other countries, including Russia and China, are concerned, their navigation in the region is not under any threat whatsoever," he said in an interview with the Izvestia daily. "Morover, we are ready to ensure the safety of their journey across the Red Sea, because the freedom of navigation plays an important role for our country."
Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory while barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operation against Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave. According to the US Defense Department’s Central Command’s (CENTCOM) estimates, the Yemeni rebel group has attacked more than 20 vessels and civilian ships in the Red Sea since mid-November.
On January 12, US and British aircraft, ships and submarines for the first time attacked targets belonging to the Ansar Allah movement in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sana’a and Hodeidah. US President Joe Biden claimed that the attack came in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The US administration said that the strikes targeted the launch sites of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as radar stations belonging to the Houthi rebels.