Yemen's Houthi rebels attack undersea cables

Tel Aviv – Yemen’s Houthi rebels have damaged the internet network by attacking undersea cables in the Red Sea region. The Israeli news agency has shared news that the Houthis, which have been targeting traders, passengers and naval ships sailing in this maritime area for the last four months, have now targeted undersea cables. Besides, the news agency has claimed that this increased the risk of internet service disruption from Europe to the Gulf and Asian countries. About two weeks ago, Houthi rebels had threatened to attack these undersea cables.

In addition, the Houthis targeted the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 undersea cables, called AAE-1. SEACOM, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and TGN Systems built the undersea cable network. The undersea cables connecting East Asia to Europe via Egypt are known as AAE-1. Along with most European countries, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt are also connected to this AAE-1. Apart from this, China, Pakistan and Qatar also use internet service through these cables.

During this time, the rebels attacked four undersea cables connected to Africa and Asian countries, including Europe. Europe, Africa, and India use them. An Israeli news agency named Globes claimed that through these attacks, the Houthi rebels had caused damage to Europe, Africa and India as well. As per the Israeli news agency, the Houthis have targeted the cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti.

About 17% of the world’s internet traffic depends on these undersea cables installed in the Red Sea. Developing countries like India, Saudi Arabia, and UAE use it. With this, the Houthi rebels seem to lay siege to the allies by attacking these undersea cables. Installed in 2017, these undersea cables between Europe and Asia stream 40 terabytes of data per second. The Gulf, Africa and India are using it extensively. Accordingly, it is feared that the Houthis may have damaged exactly these cables to target these countries.

A few days ago, Yemen’s Houthi rebels threatened to attack the undersea cables. Also, the Houthis launched attacks in the Red Sea in response to the Israeli military action in Gaza. The Houthis had demanded that if Israel wants to stop these attacks, Israel should withdraw from Gaza. The Houthis had also put forward this demand while threatening to attack the undersea cables.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels have not responded to the attacks on the undersea cables. However, on the other hand, the conflict between the US and the Houthi rebels is going on in the Red Sea region. Moreover, the Houthi rebels tried to target the US ship travelling through this sea area. Nonetheless, the US has claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the Houthis by attacking Yemen. At the same time, the US announced the successful destruction of four missiles and two drones fired by the Houthi in the direction of the Red Sea.

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