Houthis visit Putin's henchmen for 'axis' meeting after terrorists 'held al-Qaeda talks to plot suicide attacks on West'
HOUTHI rebel leaders made a surprise visit to Moscow on Thursday to discuss increasing “pressure” on the US and Israel to end the war in Gaza.
The Iranian-backed militia delegation gathered Vladimir Putin's accomplices shortly after allegedly conducting secret terror talks Al-Qaeda will plot more intensive attacks against the West.
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The Houthis, led by spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam, met with the deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will discuss the US and British attacks on the Houthis and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Salam said on
During the talks, Moscow “strongly condemned” the US and British attacks on Houthi military bases in Yemen.
They called the airstrikes “capable of destabilizing the situation on a regional scale.”
In turn, the Houthis reportedly expressed concern over Western interventions in the Red Sea and called for closer coordination with Russia to address the situation.
And meanwhile, the US confirmed that the destroyer USS Carney had fired an anti-ship missile fired by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
Another US ship – USS Gravely – also shot down three anti-ship missiles fired at a container ship earlier this week.
It marks another dramatic escalation in the… crisis that since November has threatened to unleash an all-out war in the entire region, which has become a powder keg because of the Israeli ongoing war with Hamas.
The Houthis are part of Iran's self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, with the explicit goal of destroying the Jewish state at all costs and preventing any Western attempt to interfere with it.
Moscow's decision to host the Houthi delegation could be seen as a provocative move to inflame the West, which is battling the militant group to regain control of the Red Sea.
Yesterday, President Putin taunted the West even further with a surprise visit to the heart of Europeflying over the Baltic Sea and past four NATO states.
The dictator, 71, came to visit Kaliningrada western Russian enclave packed with nuclear missiles and sandwiched between EU countries Poland And Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Russia's chilling meeting with the Houthis came shortly after Yemeni reports that Houthi leaders had allegedly held secret terror meetings with al-Qaeda to plot a wave of “suicide bombings” against the West.
At rallies in both the Yemeni capital Sanaa and Hodeidah, the Houthi port stronghold on the Red Sea, the group attempted to “convince” their Islamist terrorist allies to join their fight in the Red Sea.
It was part of an apparent attempt to convince them to carry out their 'legitimate duty' to confront Western 'aggression' and stage further attacks. Sky News Arabia reported.
The terror talks came after Yemeni government officials accused the militia group of carrying out recent assassinations in the city of Aden along with members of al-Qaeda.
For more than two years, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – which the US considers the terror group's most dangerous branch – has clashed with government forces as a renewed insurgency grows in Yemen.
The terrorist group, formerly led by Osama Bin Laden and responsible for… 9/11 attacksnow appears to be taking advantage of the escalating crisis in Yemen and across the Red Sea to launch further attacks.
It follows months of indiscriminate maritime attacks by the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, on commercial ships and on US and British Navy warships in the Red Sea.
The rebels say their intention is to avenge the Israeli offensive in Gaza Hamasbut they are targeting ships with little or no ties to Israel, turning one of the world's largest shipping lanes into an active war zone.
About 12 percent of all global trade normally passes through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, the now-attacked 20-mile-wide stretch of the Red Sea also known as the “Gate of Tears.”
In a new round of Houthi attacks on Wednesday evening, two cargo ships sailing close to the Gulf of Aden were attacked by anti-ship ballistic missiles and the US Navy was forced to intervene.
It seemed like a direct response to US and British forces again attack Houthi military bases in Yemen in an overnight blitz on Monday.
Four RAF Typhoon fighter jets released laser-guided bombs to blow up eight locations, while US warships, submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets took out other missile depots and launches.
It provoked an angry response from trigger-happy rebels who vowed the attacks “would not go unpunished.”
And it came just hours later Rishi Sunak And Joe Biden the Iranian-backed militants warned would hit Yemen again “if necessary” after a carefully planned operation earlier this month.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Cameron said this week's strikes sent the “clearest possible message”.
He said: “Since we last took action ten days ago, there have been more than a dozen attacks on shipping by the Houthis in the Red Sea. These attacks are illegal and unacceptable.
“What we have done again is send the clearest message possible that we will continue to reduce their ability to carry out these attacks, while sending the clearest message possible that we will back up our words and warnings with action.”
The exploding tensions have led to discussions Britain's largest warship deployed in the Red Sea to help lead spearhead attacks on Houthi targets.
Calls are growing for the £3.5 billion aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister HMS Prince of Wales, to step into the crisis and help protect the interests of Britain and its allies.
On Monday, two US Navy Seals were confirmed dead following a 10-day search for the pair after they left went missing during a mission to seize Iranian weapons.
And last week, Washington reclassified the Houthis as a terrorist organization as they stepped up diplomatic and financial pressure on the militia group.
It followed US intelligence claiming the Houthis were trying to do just that acquire more weapons to intensify their attacks on the Red Sea.
The information showed that the rebels carefully crafted their attack plan, indicating when attacks would be intensified and how they would gather the necessary weapons.
There are concerns that the militants may receive even more lethal weapons in the coming weeks from Tehran, their long-term partner, sponsor and backer.
Who are the Houthi rebels?
THE Houthi rebels have been terrorizing the Red Sea by launching persistent missile and drone attacks on ships and warships – but who are they?
The Shiite militant group, which now controls most of Yemen, was largely ignored by the world for more than a decade.
However, since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Gaza, they have disappeared from relative obscurity accounting for around £1 trillion in global trade held hostage – making it one of the busiest in the world shipping routes to an active war zone.
Their twisted slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews and Victory for Islam.”
Why do they attack ships?
The rebel group has launched brutal drone and missile attacks on all ships – including warships – that they believe are linked to Israel, in solidarity with their ally Hamas.
In reality, however, there have been frequent attacks on commercial ships with little or no connection to Israel, forcing global maritime traffic to halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices soaring.
The naval attacks have threatened to unleash a full-blown war in the Middle East, while the intense ripples of Israel's war in Gaza are being felt across the region – with Iran suspected of fomenting the chaos.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea increased by 50 percent between November and December as the rebel group's leaders vowed that their attacks would continue until Israel halted its offensive in Gaza.
And despite repeated threats from the West and joint attacks from the US and Britain destroying their strongholds in Yemen, Iran's terror representative appears undeterred.
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