Houthis reject US sanctions, vow more strikes on ‘aggressor’ countries

SMA NEWS – MARIB

The Houthis on Sunday threatened to mount more drone and missile strikes on “unexpected” locations in the Arab coalition countries in response to the latest US sanctions on the militia’s leaders.
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthis, the president of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said his movement would escalate attacks on “aggressor countries” if the US continued sanctioning military and political leaders. “Sanctions do not scare the mujahideen,” he tweeted.
Last week, the US imposed sanctions on two Houthi military leaders who are commanding the current offensive on the central city of Marib despite calls from the UN, the US and other countries for the group to halt its assault and engage positively with peace initiatives.
Despite heavy casualties and failing to make major advances in Marib province, the Houthis pushed ahead and attacked government-controlled areas outside Marib city, military officials said.
Some analysts believed that the US resorted to blacklisting Houthi military leaders in order to force the rebels to embrace the US special envoy’s efforts to end the war.
“The Houthis’ insistence to seize control of Marib has embarrassed the Americans and disrupted their desire for a peaceful political role to end this bloody war,” tweeted Maged Al-Madhaji, the executive director of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. He predicted tougher measures from the US if the Houthis continued to ignore the calls for peace.