From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 15, 2024
Houthi official threatens: Yemen will turn into the graveyard of Americans
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
In an interview with the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Houthi top official Ali al-Qahoum says that Yemen will turn into a “graveyard” for US forces.
“We tell the Americans that your actions against Yemen will be defeated and we will confront you with all of our power. After this aggression, Yemen will turn into the graveyard of the Americans and they will leave the region in humiliation,” al-Qahoum says, according to a translation provided by IRNA.
The statement comes after US and British forces launched two waves of strikes against Houthi-controlled sites on Friday, hitting over 60 targets in response to weeks of attacks by the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group on commercial vessels.
The strikes reduced the Houthi’s offensive capabilities by 20 to 30 percent but failed to remove the threat, according to US officials who spoke with the New York Times.
Al-Qahoum adds that the US and its allies should expect “strategic blows and a more painful response,” and that Yemeni people and their leaders are ” fully prepared to enter a direct and all-out war with the Great Satan to defend Palestine,” referring to the United States.
