US military and allies destroy Yemen Houthis' drones

Rebel leader threatens Saudi Arabia in dispute over banking

Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi speaks about Red Sea shipping attacks in a televised address from Sanaa, Yemen. EPA

The US military and allied forces said they destroyed Houthi drones in Yemen and the Gulf of Aden after the rebel group threatened to attack Saudi Arabia in a dispute over banking.

The militia, a supporter of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has since November disrupted global shipping by launching drone and missile attacks on commercial ships on the Red Sea.

The volume of shipping on the route to Asian, Middle Eastern and European markets has fallen because of a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel wages war on the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, the US military's Central Command said on X that in the past 24 hours, its forces destroyed two drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen while partner forces destroyed two Houthi drones over the Gulf of Aden.

“It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” the statement read.

The strikes against the Houthis began after the Iran-backed group leader Abdul-Malik Al Houthi threatened to attacks airports, banks and ports in Saudi Arabia, criticising what he claimed was Riyadh’s intention to “move the banks from Sanaa”.

“The Saudi must realise well that we can never remain silent regarding such reckless, foolish, and stupid steps,” he said. “We will meet everything in equal measure, banks with banks, Riyadh airport with Sanaa airport, and ports with port.”

The Houthi leader made the statements during a Sunday evening speech marking Islamic New Year and was referring to recent plans by the internationally recognised Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, to order all banks operating in Houthi-controlled Sanaa to move to Aden in the south.

The remarks led to fears that recent Saudi efforts towards a rapprochement with the Yemeni rebel group, which it has been at war with for nearly a decade, may result in a fallout.

Saudi Arabia has taken significant steps over the past year to wind down the war in Yemen against the Houthis.

Last April, Saudi Arabia sent its ambassador to Yemen to Sanaa along with a delegation from Oman to revive a truce with the Houthis and “reach a comprehensive political solution” in Yemen.

At the time, ambassador Mohammed Al Jaber said his effort was to end the crisis in Yemen and support the 2021 Saudi Initiative to reach a comprehensive political solution in the country.

The Arab coalition fighting the rebels in Yemen has repeatedly raised the alarm that the Houthis threaten vessels in the Red Sea through their control of western Hodeidah port.

The alliance intervened in the war in 2015 at the request of the internationally-recognised government to restore its power and push back the rebels after they took control of Sanaa.