Houthis …….. Unstoppable

(Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM)
Yemen has faced a prolonged civil war (since 2014) and remains extremely poor and deprived of even the most basic resources like food and drinking water. The Houthis made up of Zaydi Shias have been a central player in Yemen’s civil war. They are just around 200,000 strong.
Since 2015, they are up against a Saudi led coalition whose members are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE),
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. And, on the sly USA and UK.
In addition, a coalition, known as Op Prosperity Guardian, announced in Dec 2023 includes the United States, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain.
Ek machharr sala aadmi ko ……….. though a serious matter, the teenie weenie Houthis are causing quite a sting.
The Houthis apparently get support from Iran; their martial culture rooted in guerrilla warfare makes them
intimidating. The Houthis attacks on the Red Sea and Israel began around Oct 2023 when they fired three cruise missiles and several drones targeting Israel followed by periodically shooting down US Drones, attacks on commercial shipping and naval warships in the Red Sea and followed by more attacks on Israel.
The Houthis claim to have downed 12 US MQ – 9 Reaper Drones so far – each estimated to be costing $32 million. They also claim to have shot a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Aircraft on 22 Dec 2024 costing about $ 66.9 million. The Americans however claim to have lost it in friendly fire. Simply stated: lost in action against the Houthis.
The real and more profound impact is of the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Seaborne freight rates due to diversions across the Cape of Good Hope (around Africa) and high rates of insurance are skyrocketing. Economists predict that this could push up prices globally by about 0.5 Percent Points (p.p) and potentially reduce GDP growth by 0.9 p.p in Europe, 0.6 p.p in United States, and 0.4 p.p globally in 2024. A real case of Geoeconomics shaping global political and economic dynamics. Geoeconomics entered the lexicon in 1990 with an article by Edward Luttwak, which argued that following the Cold War, the importance of military power was giving way to geoeconomic power.
Burkan-2H, a modified version of the Iranian Qiam-1 missile, is one of the key ballistic missiles used by the Houthis. Despite their limited resources, they have developed their own capabilities to modify and extend the range of these missiles. The Houthis use the long-range Sammad – 3 and Jaffa Drone (designed to evade advanced defence systems like the Iron Dome). Notably, these are capabilities which many nation-states struggle to attain The most recent drone attack by the Houthis on Israel was on 25 Dec – two drones, one targeting Tel Aviv and the other Ashkelon, a key industrial zone of the Israeli Defence Forces. These drones fly from Yemen to Israel covering
over 2000 Kms over intensely hostile Air Defence regions of the Red Sea or Saudi Arabia and then hoodwink the sophisticated Israeli Air Defence Systems ……… like it or not, the training and skills of the Houthis are laudable.
Breaking News Today: Yemen Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack that targeted the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Their spokesman has stated that the Iron Dome failed to intercept the missile, causing injuries and airport shutdown. Israel claims that the missile was intercepted and that the airport reopened after a 30-minute shutdown. The CNN TV showed videos of sirens blaring and citizens running to reach bomb shelters.
The night-time monster under our beds has transformed into the air raid siren. For half of Israel’s population living in or near the country’s Centre, three such sirens have jolted us awake in the past week. We remember the times: 1:44 a.m., 2:36 a.m., and 3:44 a.m.
The last interception was successful; the first two were not. I visited what remains of the Ramat Efal School, where a ballistic missile demolished an entire building. Israel is living in a reality of miracles. Had children been in that building, even in a bomb shelter, the outcome could have been a mass casualty event. Just a day later, another ballistic missile struck a playground situated between buildings in a shared Arab-Jewish neighbourhood. A few meters in any direction, and the casualties could have been devastating. Gil Lewinsky, The Times of Israel.
Israeli response to these attacks – we will hunt down all the Houthi leaders, hit them as we have done elsewhere ……
a new Geo……. lexicon on the way?