Houthis & US Exchange Strikes As Warnings Mount On Undersea Cables

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed that at around 2100 local time on 7 Feb, US forces "conducted self-defense strikes against two Houthi mobile anti-ship crusie missiles prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea." Adds that "Later on Feb 7, at 1130pm, CENTCOM forces conducted a second strike against a Houthi mobile land attack cruise missile prepared to launch." The tit-for-tat strikes between Houthis (on commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea) and the US and UK (on Houthi targets in Yemen) show little sign of coming to an end any time soon.

• On 7 Feb, Foreign Policythen the BBC raised the prospect of the Houthis broadening their attacks from strikes on shipping to efforts to damage undersea cables. Undersea cables around the Bab el-Mandeb strait carry "nearly all the data and financial communications between Europe and Asia" meaning any effective strike could prove extremely disurptive.
• The piece goes on to highlight that based on current assesments the Houthis do not - at present - have the requisite equipment to damage the cables that are buried into the seafloor. There is the prospect that Iran could have such capability, with the question of whether Tehran would provide such capability to the Houthis should the regional conflict escalate.
• The article notes that cables in shallower waters could be vulnerable. It also notes that while damage to cables is usually relatively easy to fix, the Houthi missile/drone strikes in and around the Red Sea would complicate efforts to do so.