The US should provide support to Yemen's internationally recognised government and back regional allies to counter Houthi actions in the Red Sea, experts told Congress on Tuesday.The House foreign affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa heard that successive administrations have failed to permanently stop attacks on shipping in the Red Sea or curtail the group's influence in the region."The most sustainable way to reduce the threat is to empower Yemen to retake territory from the Houthis," said Nadia Al-Dawsari, associate fellow at the Middle East Institute. "This does not require US boots on the ground: this requires US leadership, and for the US to work with allies to provide the Yemeni government with the political, military and economic support it needs to restore state authority."Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when the Houthi rebels pushed the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. Fighting between the two sides killed hundreds of thousands directly and indirectly, displaced more than four million, and caused a widespread, years-long hunger crisis.A truce struck in 2022 has mostly held, but the Houthis have been carrying out attacks on international shipping near Yemen's shores for several years. The Iran-backed group has also formed connections with terrorist groups across the Middle East.Allison Minor, direct...
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