Houthis arrest Yemenis accused of spying for Israel, US

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Monday claimed to have uncovered a U.S.-Israeli spying operation in the country.

According to the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah television channel, the terrorist group over the past days arrested “a number of spies” alleged to be part of a network that worked to collect intelligence on Houthi sites on Yemen’s western coast “for the benefit of the American and Israeli enemy.”

The alleged spy ring, dubbed “Force 400,” was said to be led by a Yemeni national named Ammar Afash, Houthi media claimed, publishing names and headshots of a handful of suspects facing spying charges.

The reports cited Houthi “security sources” as stressing that those accused of espionage would face the penalty of death.

The source claimed that the suspects confessed to “carrying out operations to monitor missile launching sites, drones, the locations of armed forces boats and submit their coordinates to their operators ... for the purpose of being targeted by American and British enemy aircraft.”

The alleged spies were also said to have confessed to having carried out covert “assassination operations using silencer pistols and explosive materials for the purpose of distracting the [Houthi] armed forces from confronting the American, British, Israeli evil trio,” reports claimed.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese Al Mayadeen news channel on Monday afternoon aired recordings of the alleged confessions, adding that the full recordings would be released by the Houthis in the day.

Since declaring their support for Hamas in their current war against Israel, Yemen’s Houthis have launched many missiles and drones towards the Jewish state, likely at the behest of their patrons in Tehran.

The Houthis also continue to attack international shipping off the coast of Yemen. The Houthis’ decision to target commercial vessels in the Red Sea was made in light “of what the Gaza Strip is being exposed to from the brutal Israeli-American aggression,” the group said last year.

The Israeli Navy has bolstered its presence in the Red Sea in response to the ongoing attacks. Missile boats were deployed “as part of the increased defense efforts in the region,” the IDF said.