VLADIMIR Putin is reportedly helping the Houthis blitz British and US ships in a major escalation – bringing Russia and the West on a collision course.
The Yemeni group has disrupted global shipping over the past year terrorising the Red Sea by seizing cargo ships or blowing them up.
EPAThe Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea with drones and missiles[/caption]
ReutersHouthi crack soldiers stormed the Galaxy Leader in November 2023[/caption]
EPAHouthi fighters started the terrorising after Hamas launched its October 7 terror attack[/caption]
ReutersReports now claim Putin is providing satellite data to the militants[/caption]
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s last orders on the Israeli hostages
Many British and US ships have got caught up in the blitz as they have brought cargo to and from foreign ports through the Suez Canal.
Russia is providing the group satellite targeting data for its missiles and drones, the Wall Street Journal has now revealed.
The data is reaching the group after being passed through members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards embedded with the militants.
The newspaper cited two European defence officials and a person familiar with the matter.
Cooperation between Russia and Iran comes as the pair get closer – with Iran sending weapons for Putin to use in Ukraine.
The “Axis of Evil” was on show this week with Vlad’s emotions boiling over at the final press conference of his three-day BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
Granted the last question at the event, the BBC‘s Steve Rosenberg pressed Putin on how he can justify the war and continued conflict.
Putin denied that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its backing of sprawling conflicts around the world had not threatened his own country’s security.
The Houthis launched their campaign following Hamas’ October 7 terror attack as they sought to help their Iranian-proxy pal.
Car carrier Galaxy Leader was snatched by the Houthis when crack troops flew onto it with a helicopter in November last year.
Earlier this month footage emerged of a drone striking a British oil tanker causing a massive explosion.
The Houthis have kept up the attacks over the last year as Israel has continued its war against Hamas in Gaza.
It comes as secret documents show the last orders by slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The orders – for the Israeli hostages still held by the terror group he ran – include an order to “take care of the lives of enemy prisoners and secure them, since they are the bargaining chip in our hands”.
The seize Galaxy Leader was snapped in September brought to shore by the Houthis
ReutersAn RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US-led coalition from RAF Akrotiri to conduct air strikes in Yemen[/caption]
The handwritten notes – Sinwar’s “final wills and instructions” – were published by Palestinian paper Al-Quds.
Another note tells his fighters that the only way to release Palestinian prisoners from jail is to guard “the enemy’s prisoners”.
He adds that those who carry out their “duty” will be rewarded.
The documents also include identifying details about 71 remaining hostages, including their names, ages, and genders.
Graphic images shared online on Thursday appeared to show his dead body in the ruins of the struck building in Rafah, with a horrific head wound.
The army later released footage of Sinwar’s final moments, hunched over and wounded inside a bombed building in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel shared declassified footage that showed Sinwar fleeing into secret Gaza tunnels on the night before the October 7 attacks.
Hamas now faces a new dawn as it, as well as ally Hezbollah, have to select new leaders.
The Houthis, designated a “global terrorist” group by Washington, have previously draped it in Yemeni and Palestinian flags and anti-American and anti-Israeli banners.
Around 12 per cent of all global trade normally passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the now-under-attack 20-mile-wide stretch of the Red Sea also known as the “Gate of Tears”.
Who are the Houthis?
THE Houthi rebels have spent months terrorising the Red Sea by launching persistent missile and drone attacks on vessels and warships – but who are they?
The Shia militant group who now controls large swaths of Yemen spent over a decade being largely ignored by the world.
However, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, they sprung from relative obscurity to holding roughly £1trillion of world trade hostage – turning one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into an active warzone.
Their warped battle cry is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam”.
Why are they attacking ships?
Last October, the rebel group began launching relentless drone and missile attacks on any ships – including warships – they deem to be connected with Israel in solidarity with their ally Hamas.
In reality, they targeted commercial vessels with little or no link to Israel – forcing global sea traffic to largely halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices around the world soaring.
The sea assaults added to the carnage in the Middle East tinderbox as intense ripples from Israel’s war in Gaza were felt across the region – with Iran accused of stoking the chaos.
The Houthi chiefs pledged their Red Sea attacks would continue until Israel stopped its offensive in Gaza.
The group’s chiefs have previously said their main targets are Israel, and its allies the US and Britain.
And despite repeated threats from the West and joint US and UK strikes blitzing their strongholds in Yemen – Iran’s terror proxy appears undeterred.
The UK and US have hit Houthi bases as recently as this month after the terror group once again targeted boats in the shipping lane.
Israel has also hammered the group with airstrikes, reportedly hitting oil storage tanks at the port in Al Hudaydah
EPABlack plumes of smoke were seen billowing into the sky[/caption]