TUNIS, September 10. /TASS/. Military operations on Yemen’s western coast pose no threat to international navigation, said Abdel Aziz bin Habtour, a member of the Houthi-formed Supreme Political Council of Yemen.

"Yemen’s exercise of sovereignty over its territories, coastline and territorial waters presents no threat to international shipping. Maritime navigation will remain safe, because it serves the interests of Yemen, the region and the entire international community," he told the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency.

The armed confrontation between the Saudi-backed government forces and Houthi rebels has been ongoing in Yemen since August 2014. The situation deteriorated dramatically in early September, when the rebel Yemeni movement launched an offensive in the country’s southwest. Simultaneously with their ground offensive, the Houthis started to deliver drone and missile strikes on coastal areas in the Red Sea and the outskirts of the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz in an attempt to cut supply routes to the Red Sea coastal city of Mocha and advance toward areas near the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait.