By Ali Karbalaei
Yemeni forces expand their range of fire
TEHRAN - American and British militaries struck around 18 Ansarullah targets in Yemen on Saturday, according to U.S. officials.
Yemeni media has confirmed the aggression, reporting that American and British forces in the region carried out nine airstrikes in the capital Sana’a, including three that hit a pesticide factory.
Among other locations struck by the Anglo-American attacks included three airstrikes on telecommunication networks in the southwestern city of Taiz, where a civilian has been killed and six others injured.
The latest attacks come after the Sana’a government forces targeted U.S. warships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with a number of drones as well as several sensitive sites in the southern Israeli-occupied city of Umm al-Rashrash, also known as Eilat.
Whilst this is believed to be the fourth major joint military action taken by the two countries against targets in Yemen, America has been frequently attacking what the Pentagon claims to be sites belonging to Ansarullah.
The U.S. Department of Defense has acknowledged that the now frequent attacks have failed to dent nor deter Ansarullah from imposing an embargo on Israeli ships or vessels associated with Tel Aviv from transiting the vital Bab al-Mandab strait or docking at Israeli naval ports.
As a result of the American and British attacks, Ansarullah has expanded its naval operations by blacklisting the United States and Britain as “states hostile to Yemen”.
This has seen a surge in operations against American and British warships as well as vessels sailing in the Red Sea.
Experts have pointed out how the poorest country in West Asia has been so effective and influential in its solidarity and support for the people of Gaza by targeting the military strength of the United States.
The U.S. has no strategy to stop Ansarullah from firing inexpensive locally manufactured drones and missiles against Israeli/American/British commercial ships and warships off Yemeni waters just as the Israeli military is waging an indiscriminate war on Gaza without achieving any of the occupying regime’s stated goals.
This has been evident in the statements of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has refrained from saying the U.S. will emerge victorious in its campaign to allow Israeli vessels or those associated with the regime from sailing the Red Sea.
Analysts have noted it would backfire to make such remarks when U.S. and British warships, which have militarized the Red Sea to safeguard Israeli ships and interests, now find themselves coming under near daily attacks (by the Sana’a government’s forces) themselves.
It is quite embarrassing for the U.S. and Britian whose military interference in Yemen has now forced them to protect their own country’s commercial vessels as well as those of the Israeli regime who have been forced to camouflage their identity in the waters off Yemen to avoid coming under fire.
The economic ripple effects are starting to be felt in the U.S., Britain, and Israel, which are being affected by supply chain problems.
Yet, Ansarullah have continued their operations despite more than a month of mainly U.S. airstrikes on targets in Yemen, with the Sana’a government saying it has “a duty” to stand in solidarity with Gaza.
The Sana'a government’s leaders have presented evidence showing the large number of vessels that have safely passed the Red Sea because they have no affiliation to the Israeli regime and are not American-British linked.
On Thursday, the U.S. Defense Department acknowledged that Ansarullah has not been deterred by the American and British airstrikes.
“We never said we’ve wiped off the map all of their capabilities,” a Pentagon spokesperson told reporters.
“We know that (Ansarullah) maintain a large arsenal. They are very capable. They have sophisticated weapons.”
Since November 19, Ansarullah has launched at least 60 operations against vessels belonging to the Israeli regime or aligned with it, U.S. warships and vessels as well as British vessels and a British warship.
The problem for Washington and London is that despite their attacks on Yemen, aimed at degrading the Ansarullah threat, the pace of these operations has picked up in recent days.
“We’ve certainly seen in the past 48, 72 hours an increase in attacks (by Ansarullah),” the Pentagon acknowledged.
The gamble to militarily take on Ansarullah, which survived eight years of American and Saudi-led war, appears to have already backfired.
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