Yemen's Houthis turn to Sudan for new arms smuggling routes

Yemen's Houthi rebel group are using Sudan to smuggle arms into the country, according to political and diplomatic sources.

The US and its Arab allies have cracked down on the rebel group's smuggling routes in the Arabian Sea via which Iran has provided them arms for more than a decade.

In response, the group has sought to form new networks via the Red Sea and has established a presence in Sudan and Eritrea.

On 2 October, security services at Aden port revealed details of the seizure of a shipment of Houthi weapons in August on board a commercial ship en route to Hodeidah from Djbouti.

Authorities seized more than 2,500 tons of weapons and military equipment, including drones, spare parts for weapons, and communications and surveillance equipment.

Hussein al-Ansi, an officer in the army of the internationally recognised government of Yemen, told The New Arab's Arabic sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that the Yemeni coast guard has intercepted arms shipments smuggled from Sudan and detained a number of Houthi members.

The Houthis and Iranian forces have had a presence in Sudan for several years but have recently increased their activity in the country following the crackdown on smuggling routes from the Horn of Africa, he said.

Iran is among several countries to have provided military support to the Sudanese army as it wages a brutal civil war against its rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.

It is thought to have shipped missile systems and dozens of drones to Port Sudan, where it has established a presence less than 700km from the Yemeni coast.

In a recent article, Fernando Carvajal, the executive director at The American Center for South Yemen Studies, suggested that last month's attacks on vessels in the northern Red Sea indicate that the Houthis may have developed an offensive capacity in Sudan.

The rebel group in September claimed to have attacked an Israeli-owned tanker near the Saudi port city of Yanbu, around 1,000 kilometres from Yemen's shores, and a container ship on its way to Jeddah.

The Houthis have targeted ships it believes are linked to Israel in the Red Sea for almost two years in retaliation for Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.