Yemeni Foreign Minister: Al-Houthi leads a "terrorist axis" extending to the Horn of Africa

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Yemeni Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba revealed the emergence of a "terrorist axis" led by the Houthi militia, supported by the Iranian regime, and extending on both banks of the Red Sea all the way to the Horn of Africa, as one interconnected network. It called for strengthening support for the Yemeni government to confront its threats to the security of the region and international navigation.

It proposed four measures to help Yemen protect the future of global shipping.

Al-Zuba, in a statement published by the official Yemeni News Agency, relied on the reports of the United Nations Group of Experts on Yemen, which documented cooperation between the terrorist Houthi militias and the Al-Shabaab movement in Somalia, and said that this cooperation “goes beyond weapons smuggling, to include the transfer of expertise and operational coordination, sending militia engineers to Somalia for training in modifying drones, and training fighters from the movement in Houthi camps.”

The Yemeni Foreign Minister confirmed that cooperation between the Houthi militias and the Al-Shabaab movement represents a strategy to expand regional influence, and that the threat to Bab al-Mandab gives the militias a means of blackmail and imposing an increasing cost on global trade. She pointed out that these threats resulted in the diversion of shipping routes around the Cape of Good Hope and the increase in transportation and insurance costs, which confirms the extension of their repercussions to the global economy.

She pointed out that Somali intelligence intercepted communications between the Houthis, Al-Shabaab and ISIS, and that elements of Al-Qaeda cooperated with militia intelligence, stressing that sectarian and ideological differences did not prevent these groups from cooperating to achieve common goals.

The Yemeni official identified four priorities for international action, including recognizing the interconnectedness of this network in legal frameworks and sanctions lists, allowing the prosecution of mediators, facilitators, and financiers; and enhancing the exchange of intelligence information regarding its activities in Yemen and the Horn of Africa; Supporting government forces that continue to confront the militia at home; And ending dealing with the Yemeni government and an armed terrorist group on an equal footing.

The Yemeni Foreign Minister stressed that confronting this threat requires capabilities that exceed the capabilities available to Yemen alone, in the areas of continuous monitoring and tracking of financiers, shipping agents, and cross-border networks.

She stressed the need for a clear distinction in international approaches between the state and its institutions and armed terrorist militias, stressing that the developments in Bab al-Mandab revealed the cost of ignoring this difference and its repercussions on the security of the region and the safety of international navigation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs reviewed the efforts of the Yemeni Coast Guard and Navy to intercept shipments during the current year, which included guidance systems for drones, components of explosive boats, and anti-armor missiles. She pointed to the seizure of a ship last August, which was coming from Djibouti and carrying components for drones, explaining that the seizure revealed a network run by Tehran to transport shipments through the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.