The rebels attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea during the Middle East war are Houthis, members of a radical Muslim religious sect based in the Arab world’s poorest nation, Yemen.
The Houthis have been showing solidarity with the Palestinians against Israel by shooting at foreign ships in the region.
Their antics led the US military to sink three of their vessels on Sunday.
The rebels, officially called Ansar Allah, or “Supporters of God,” are backed by Iran and share a common enemy, Saudi Arabia, which has a different religious sect.
The Houthi family emerged from the mountains of Yemen in the 1990s and gained followers as they fought the long civil war that ravaged the country, CNN said.
In 2014, the rebel group gathered enough strength to seize the capital city, Sana’a.
The cargo ship “Galaxy Leader”, co-owned by an Israeli company, was hijacked by the Iranian-backed Houthis in November. Anadolu via Getty Images A screenshot captured from video shows the cargo ship ‘Galaxy Leader’, co-owned by an Israeli company, hijacked by Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen in the Red Sea on November 20, 2023. Anadolu via Getty Images
The radical Shiite Islamist sect has grown in recent years, driven by the militant slogan of “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse to the Jews, victor to Islam.”
Together with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis constitute the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, the United States, the West and their allies.
Houthi rebels emerged from northern Yemen in the 1990s and have gained strength in recent years. REUTERS
The Houthis declared war on shipping in the Red Sea, threatening global trade, when Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas’ deadly sneak attack on the Jewish state on October 7.
Over the past weekend, two American warships, the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely, responded to a distress call from the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou after it was attacked by four rebel ships.
The US military sank three of the ships as tensions rose in the region.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn