By: Staff Writer
February 28, Colombo (LNW): The Houthi Terrorists in Yemen is now believed to have been damaged at least four under-sea communication cables in the Southern Red sea disrupting communication between areas oF Europe and Asian countries including India and Sri Lanka.
Four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti have been struck out of commission in recent months, presumably as a result of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, according to an exclusive report in the Israeli news site Globes.
The successful targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia.
Most of the immediate harm will be absorbed by the Gulf States and India, Globes said.
The AAE-1 cable connects East Asia to Europe via Egypt, connecting China to the West through countries such as Pakistan and Qatar.
The Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable system connects southern Europe to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, the UAE, and India. The Seacom cable connects Europe, Africa, and India, and is connected to South Africa.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement, which is not the internationally recognized government of the Arab country but which controls its most populous segments, has been attacking international trade for months, proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians as Israel wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The United States, United Kingdom, and allies have begun in recent months to take offensive actions against the Houthis in response to attacks, but the missile, helicopter, and underwater drone assaults on merchant ships have continued.
While the world has a decent supply of cable repair ships, they are booked up well in advance so finding one ready to work is not always possible. Nor are cable repairs easy: it takes time to find and retrieve a damaged segment and reconnect it.
These repairs could be complicated by regional tensions. The Houthis have attacked civilian ships and military assets in the Red Sea since the recent invasion of Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces after terrorist attacks by Hamas.
Some shipping companies have therefore decided the risks of attacks on their assets are too high and are currently avoiding the Red Sea, a decision that extends shipping times. Peripheral vendor Logitech recently warned its supply chain would experience delays as a result of the Red Sea conflict.
Members of a mailing list covering internet outages also said they had seen problems with cables that run through the Red Sea but reports on the list also dispute the timing of the incident, pointing out that one of the cables mentioned in coverage of the outages, EIG, has been “down for a few weeks.”
