(Paris) An organization as close as possible to Houthi power, direct communication with economic players, a desire to last: an investigative NGO revealed on Tuesday the modus operandi of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemeni rebels.
Behind the missile strikes, drone attacks and other boardings from zodiacs by the Houthis, sits an entity led by a close friend of Mehdi Al-Machat, de facto head of state in the territories held by the Houthis in Yemen since 2018 .
According to the Swiss NGO Inpact (“Investigations with impact”), these allies of Iran centralize their operations in the Red Sea via an obscure entity, the “Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center” (HOCC).
The organ, registered in Sanaa, was born last February. A response to the previous month’s decision by the United States to once again designate the Houthis as a “terrorist” group.
The HOCC “probably participates in the coordination of targeting and attacks”, estimates Inpact, of which it predicts a “long-term anchorage”.
Rebels have for months targeted commercial ships they believe are linked to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom. They say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the context of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Targeting coordination
The organization is led by a certain Ahmed Mohamed Yahya Hamed, alias Ahmed Hamed, “an influential actor of the Houthis, both close to Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, and to the Houthi armed forces”, assures Inpact.
He is “possibly the most powerful civilian leader not to bear the surname al-Houthi”, estimated United Nations experts on Yemen in 2021.
According to the creation decree cited by Inpact, the HOCC is supposed to “mitigate the effects and humanitarian repercussions […] in the theater of military operations […] through adherence to Islamic teachings and respect for international humanitarian law and other relevant rules.”
The attacks have heavily disrupted traffic in this maritime area critical to global trade, prompting the United States to set up an international maritime coalition and strike rebel targets in Yemen, sometimes with help from the United Kingdom.
On Friday, American and British strikes targeted four Yemeni towns controlled by the rebels, according to Al-Massirah television reporting to the insurgents.
The European Union has also deployed a mission in the area, called Aspides, to help ensure freedom of navigation.
Israel in the viewfinder
The investigation also reveals how the HOCC arrogates to itself the right to designate the vessels authorized to cross the area via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.
The center “in fact institutionalizes the maritime guerrilla warfare carried out by the armed group,” says the report. It “made available means for ships to communicate with the organization directly (radio, telephone number and emails)”.
Inpact publishes a letter from the Houthis sent in March to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency responsible for maritime transport security.
The document prohibits navigation from four categories of shipping companies: those owned, operated or directed by Israel, the United States and Britain, as well as those whose ships are heading to one of Israel’s ports.
A company that does not fall into any of these categories is, however, free to circulate its boats, specifies the letter, which provides an email address to contact it in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
The HOCC invites the IMO to inform ship owners, operators and insurance companies.
An international shipping company confirmed to AFP, on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject, that it had received some messages from the Houthis. “But very episodically, only once or twice, and the last one was eight months ago.”
The messages, in essence, warned not to pass through the area under penalty of reprisals.
The report also demonstrates the power of the HOCC leader in the Houthi hierarchy.
Ahmed Hamed is none other than the chief of staff of President Mahdi Al-Mashat. “He is known as ra’is al-ra’is, the ‘president’s president’, because the Houthi government’s strategic decisions are not taken without his approval,” says Inpact.
According to the UN, it exercises in particular “influence over the appointments of civil servants, the intimidation of opponents, corrupt activities including the misappropriation of humanitarian aid”.
Besides Iran, the Houthis seem to have strong allies. Washington thus accuses Russia of discussing arms transfers with the Yemeni rebels.