Yemen's Houthis downplay plans to establish a US-led maritime task force

YEMEN

Yemen’s Houthis have dismissed plans to establish a US-led maritime task force in the Red Sea to repel the group's targeting of Israeli vessels.

"The threat to establish a coalition in the Red Sea against Yemen has no value," Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said in a statement Friday cited by the pro-Houthi Al-Masirah Channel.

He said, however, that such a move would "threaten the security and stability in the region."

"We intend to act broadly to stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip," he added.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it is ready to help set up a maritime task force to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea following a series of Houthi attacks on ships which are believed to be Israeli owned.

The US signaled Thursday that several pivotal nations have expressed interest in signing on to a maritime task force aimed at preventing further Houthi attacks.

The US State and Defense departments are leading international talks to "strengthen and expand" the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 39-nation naval partnership, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

On Sunday, the Houthi group said it targeted two Israeli ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea with a naval missile and a drone.

The Houthis on Nov. 19 announced the seizure of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, co-owned by an Israeli company, and said the move came in solidarity with “the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.”

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar