‘Burning battlefield’: Yemen warns US Red Sea militarization endangers maritime navigation

Yemen has warned that the Red Sea will become a “flaming battleground” if the United States and its allies stick to their “aggressive behavior” and fuel tensions in the strategic maritime route.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement, made the remarks in an X post on Sunday, days after the US announced the formation of a multi-national maritime task force in the Red Sea under the pretext of protecting vessels owned by Israel or bound for the occupied territories.

He said that the US and its partners are “threatening international maritime navigation by militarizing the Red Sea with no legitimate reason.”

“The Red Sea would become a battleground if the US and its allies continue their aggressive behavior,” he said, urging the countries with coastline on the seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean to “recognize the reality of the dangers that threaten their national security.”

Abdul-Salam also said that a US warship had opened “reckless” fire at a reconnaissance plane belonging to the Yemeni Navy in the Red Sea.

One of the US missiles exploded near a Gabonese ship that was traveling from Russia, he added.

The US had accused the Yemeni forces of attacking MV Saibaba, an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker owned by Gabon, with a drone.

Earlier, Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned that American ships would become a target for Yemeni missiles in case of any strike on Yemen.

“If the United States is considering targeting Yemen, we will not stand idly by,” he said, stressing that engaging in a direct war with the US and Israel is what the Yemenis aspire for the most.

In retaliation for Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza, Yemen recently warned that it considers any ships with owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied territories legitimate targets.

Last month, the Yemeni Armed Forces seized a vehicle transport ship linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. They still hold the vessel near the port city of Hudaydah.

They also launched drone and missile strikes targeting the occupied territories in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 20,424 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 54,036 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.