The Houthi group announced, at dawn on Thursday, that the US-British coalition launched an air strike on the coastal governorate of Hodeidah, west of Yemen, at a time when the German Navy announced that it was avoiding the Red Sea because of the “Houthi threat.”

Al-Masirah Channel, the mouthpiece of the Houthi group, said in a news item on its urgent tape, “American-British aircraft targeted an air strike near Hodeidah University in Al-Hawk District,” but it did not mention the name of the area.

According to the channel, “The American-British coalition aircraft targeted Hodeidah International Airport yesterday evening, Wednesday, with two raids.”

Hodeidah is one of the most important Yemeni governorates as it contains an international airport, 3 vital ports, and has a long coastal strip.

German warning

The German Defense Ministry said that two German warships are avoiding the Red Sea, sailing around Africa instead for fear of the Houthis attacking passing maritime traffic.

German Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Mitko Mueller said in a press conference yesterday that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius “ordered a longer route for the frigate and supply ship on the way back from a mission in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.”

Mueller warned in a press conference in Berlin that “the threat level in the Red Sea is very high,” citing the “very complex attacks” carried out there in recent months using tactical ballistic missiles, drones, and other weapons.

He said, "Unlike other German naval ships, the two ships are not specifically designed to carry out air defense operations to protect themselves as well as fleets of nearby ships."

During his visit to India last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz inspected the two ships, the “Baden-Württemberg” frigate and the “Frankfurt am Main” supply ship, in the state of Goa in the southwest of the country.

Mueller said the frigate will then head to the Mediterranean to join a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, while the supply ship will sail back to Germany