The United States sanctioned two people and four firms on Wednesday for facilitating the procurement of weapons on behalf of Yemen’s Houthis.
The group began launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, forcing many shipping companies to alter their routes and triggering retaliatory strikes by the US and its allies.
Wednesday’s sanctions targeted “procurement operatives, shipment facilitators and suppliers” based in Yemen and China, who sourced dual-use equipment for use in the Houthis’ advanced weapons systems, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
It said that those sanctioned had “directly supported” Houthi efforts to procure “military-grade materials abroad,” which were then shipped to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, enabling their ongoing attacks.
The Houthis “have sought to exploit key jurisdictions like the PRC (People’s Republic of China) and Hong Kong in order to source and transport the components necessary for their deadly weapons systems,” US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.
The Treasury would continue to target these “facilitators” who enable Houthi activities, he added.
Those sanctioned include al-Shahari United Corporation, a company based in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which allegedly relied on a branch office in the Chinese city of Guangzhou to facilitate shipments to Yemen.
The US Treasury also sanctioned a Yemeni businessman named Maher Yahya Muhammad Mutahar al-Kinai, who it said had coordinated with other Houthi operatives to “facilitate shipments of dual-use equipment and components.”
With AFP
