Houthi leader says Yemeni rebels ‘serious’ about targeting any Israeli presence in Somaliland

Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, says the group is “serious” about attacking any Israeli target in Somaliland after Israel last month became the first country to recognize the separatist Somali region, which lies across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.

“We will work to strengthen operations to monitor Israeli movements in Somaliland,” says al-Houthi in a video statement marking the Muslim calendar anniversary of the death of his elder brother and Houthi movement founder Hussein al-Houthi.

“We’re serious about targeting any Israeli presence in Somaliland — military base and the like,” he says. “We won’t hesitate to target any fixed Zionist presence that is accessible to us.”

He similarly said last month that any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be considered a “military target.”