Yemen Monitor/Marib/Special:
The Houthi armed group has intensified the digging of trenches and water canals deep inside the coastal directorates of Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate in western Yemen to launch drones and missiles into the Red Sea and avoid US strikes.
The Saudi newspaper “Asharq Al-Awsat” quoted residents as saying that there is a “continuous Houthi activity in digging trenches and water canals towards the depths of “Al-Tuhayta” directorate, towards “Bayt Al-Faqih” directorate, and towards “Hays” directorate, where there are farms and residential gatherings.”
Military sources told the newspaper that this “will provide the group with places of refuge to avoid strikes by US and British forces, which will face difficulty in carrying out strikes because the targets are located in agricultural areas and among residential gatherings.”
According to these sources, the Houthis have already deployed missile launchers and booby-trapped boats amid dense palm groves because they provide them with the ability to hide their weapons and launch missiles and transport booby-trapped boats through the newly created water canals to the sea.
The newspaper quoted its sources as saying that the Houthi group, in addition to digging trenches in the areas of Al-Saleef, Ras Issa, and Al-Luhya, is using gypsum and rock salt mines to hide missile launchers. These launching platforms are used to launch missiles and then hide them again so that they cannot be targeted by US and British forces.
The sources said that these large and natural rock caves still provide the Houthis with the ability to use these areas to attack ships.
The United States and Britain face an intelligence dilemma in reaching the results of the attacks on the Houthi-run areas.
Since November, the Houthis have targeted more than 60 merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They said they were targeting ships linked to Israel, which is carrying out a brutal attack on Gaza Strip. But the Yemeni government and experts said that the Houthis are intended to escape internal crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the US and Britain have been carrying out a campaign of airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi militants since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced the expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.
