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US, UK strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen

Houthis promise not to attack Russian, Chinese, German ships in Red Sea

According to the media, the Houthi official said that the rebel movement would expand its military actions after the United States and United Kingdom’s strikes on targets in Yemen

BERLIN, January 22. /TASS/. A senior Ansar Allah (the Houthi) official has promised that the Houthis will not attack Russian, Chinese, and German ships in the Red Sea.

"Chinese and Russian ships are not in the crosshairs. They are not our targets. As well as German (vessels)," Mohammed al-Bahiti, a member of the Ansar Allah politburo, said in an interview with the RTL and NTV television channels.

According to al-Bahiti, this applies to ships that are not linked with "Israel’s Zionist regime."

At the same time, according to NTV, the Houthi official said that the rebel movement would expand its military actions after the United States and United Kingdom’s strikes on targets in Yemen. "Attacks are possible on warships as well," he warned.

"Our military operations will continue until the genocide in Gaza is stopped and until the population receives food, medicine, and fuel. Our goal is not to sink cargo ships but rather to force them to change their routes to increase companies’ economic losses," he explained, adding that this is meant to increase pressure on Israel.

"All countries must pool efforts with us to stop crimes <…> in Gaza. Our intentions are true," he stressed.

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.

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.

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