Yemen Monitor/Sanaa/Special
The armed Houthi group held the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia responsible for targeting the banking sector in areas under its control, with the increasing pressure from the Central Bank of Yemen affiliated with the internationally recognized government.
A statement issued by the group’s central bank in Sana’a said: “The renewed targeting of the banking sector practiced by the central bank in Aden is nothing but the implementation of the orders of the Saudi regime.”
He accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out US and British directives to pressure the group to stop Red Sea attacks.
The Houthis usually use their stance on the Red Sea, which they claim is with the Palestinian people, to compensate for the internal problems they suffer from.
The statement said that the effects of the measures of the central bank in Aden: “will harm the people of Yemen in the occupied areas even more, but the central bank in Sana’a will work by all means to prevent all that.”
On Sunday, the governor of the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden issued a decision on regulating the practice of foreign remittances through international remittance companies, days after the deadline for the previous decision to transfer local banks from Sana’a to Aden expired.
The Yemeni riyal has recently witnessed an unprecedented collapse against foreign currencies, which has increased the hardship of living for citizens who have become unable to provide the necessary food for their families.
Since November, the Houthis have targeted more than 100 commercial 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 launching a savage attack on the Gaza Strip. But the Yemeni government and experts say the Houthis’ goals are local to escape internal crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the US and Britain have been launching an air strike campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi militants since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced the expansion of their operations to include American and British ships.
