By Al-Fassel | 2024-04-07

In addition to carrying out attacks on merchant vessels transiting the Red Sea, the Houthis have ramped up their aggression on the ground in Yemen, on March 3 killing 11 pro-government fighters in a surprise attack.

The incident came as US special envoy Tim Lenderking said the Houthis' Red Sea attacks are undermining the peace process in Yemen and urged the Iran-backed group to stop.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) said its fighters were the target of the attack in Lahj, near the provincial border with Taez, AFP reported.

Taez is divided between government control and Houthi control.

"The Houthis did not advance a single step," STC spokesman Mohammed al-Naqib said, as STC fighters thwarted the attack, which lasted five hours.

Several Houthis also were killed, but no toll was immediately available.

Sporadic flareups have occasionally gripped parts of Yemen, despite a lull in fighting that has held since the expiry of a six-month truce brokered by the United Nations (UN) in April 2022.

In March 2023, at least 10 soldiers were killed in clashes with the Houthis in oil-producing Marib province, a main flashpoint region.

In December, UN envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said warring parties had committed to a new ceasefire and agreed to engage in a UN-led peace process.

But this has stalled as the Houthis continue their attacks on ships.

The Houthis have continued to stockpile weapons during the truce, many of them smuggled into the country from Iran via various routes.

Impact on humanitarian aid

The Houthis' attacks, which have targeted dozens of ships in the Red Sea, are preventing humanitarian aid from getting to their own people in Yemen and to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, who they claim to be supporting, Lenderking said.

On April 1, US forces destroyed a Houthi unmanned surface vessel that "presented a threat to US and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region," US Central Command said.

In a post on X, the US Embassy in Yemen underscored the indiscriminate nature of the Houthis' attacks, sharing a graphic with the flags of 32 nations and the caption "reckless Houthis attacks are harming these countries and more."

"The Houthis must immediately halt their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because they are undermining progress on the Yemen peace process and complicating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis and others in need, including the Palestinian people," Lenderking told a virtual briefing.

Lenderking travelled to Saudi Arabia and Oman this week to discuss with regional counterparts the need for an immediate cessation of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US State Department said April 1.

The special envoy said talks had aimed to "secure Houthi de-escalation and renew focus on securing a durable peace for the Yemeni people."

"While there remains broad international support for an inclusive Yemeni-Yemeni peace process to find a lasting solution to the country's conflict, successful negotiations are extremely difficult as long as the Houthis continue their aggressive actions," he warned.

"Absent a political settlement, we fear Yemen's humanitarian and economic crises will only get worse."

Lenderking said shipping arrivals at the Red Sea port of al-Hodeidah, "the lifeblood for the Yemeni people," were down 15% because of the attacks.

"Unfortunately, these attacks against international shipping have undermined the credibility of the Houthis as a good faith actor in Yemen," he said.