X suspends Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree’s account amid regional escalation

X suspended the account of Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Thursday for violating the platform’s rules, amid the Iran-backed Yemeni group’s attacks on Yemeni government forces, Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping.

The account had around 121,000 followers. X did not specify which rules had been breached.

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“X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules,” a message on the platform said.

Saree is one of the Houthis’ most prominent public faces and regularly used social media to announce and claim the group’s military operations. In recent weeks, he claimed missile and drone strikes on Yemeni government forces, Saudi infrastructure and oil tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

His suspension came as fighting intensified again in Yemen. At least one Yemeni government soldier was killed in overnight clashes in Taiz, Yemeni military officials said, according to The Associated Press.

Elsewhere, several tribal leaders in the central province of Marib said the Yemeni army artillery targeted overnight Houthi movements.

The Houthis had been hitting government-held areas with drones and missiles, saying they had been targeting military forces and warehouses.

On Tuesday, they hit a commercial ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which killed six people.

Three Pakistanis were among the dead in the ship attack, and Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that one of its nationals was missing after the attack and two were wounded.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait at Yemen’s southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil.

The Houthis have also stepped up attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia, whose government supports Yemen’s internationally recognized authorities. Last week, Houthi missile and drone attacks killed at least 58 Yemeni government troops in Yemen, as separate attacks wounded 11 civilians in Saudi Arabia, in one of the deadliest escalations in Yemen’s conflict in years.

The group has additionally declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and claimed attacks on Saudi oil tankers and other vessels in the Red Sea, a strategically important shipping route that has taken on greater significance amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

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