American website: Houthis consolidate their presence in Somalia by establishing strategic alliances with Al-Shabaab, ISIS and piracy networks

An American website revealed that the Houthi militias are working to consolidate their influence in Somalia, especially in the Puntland and Bari regions, where they provide financial, logistical and military support to the Al-Shabaab and ISIS factions, in addition to Somali piracy networks.

The American website Lloyd's List said in a report translated by "Yemeni Youth Net" that reports indicate that the Houthis earn an estimated $180 million per month from illegal safe passage fees paid by unnamed shipping agents to secure safe passage through the Red Sea.

Intelligence from the UN Security Council has warned that the Houthis are expanding their operational capabilities beyond the territory they control through a series of alliances that now include Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

The report explained that the threat posed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen to global shipping lanes is growing significantly thanks to an increasingly diverse network of political alliances, military suppliers, and financial support networks that now extend through multiple terrorist organizations.

He explained that strategic alliances with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Al-Shabaab movement in Somalia are expanding the Houthis’ ability to strike ships beyond previous attacks, which have now reached a level of risk “not seen since World War II.”

According to the report of the UN panel of experts, the Houthis have benefited from training and technical assistance provided by the Quds Force, the external operational arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as well as Hezbollah and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the UN team’s investigation revealed that the Houthis use various networks of individuals and entities operating from multiple regions, including Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen, to finance their activities.

These companies use different banks, shell companies, exchange companies, shipping companies, and financial brokers. The committee interviewed officials from a number of exchange and shipping companies and banks, who confirmed the details of these operations, after requesting anonymity.

The Houthi leadership has even set up a special committee to increase its military spending. The panel’s sources say the Houthis are collecting illegal fees from “some shipping agencies in exchange for allowing their ships to sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden without being attacked.”

The sources told the committee that these shipping agencies coordinate with a company affiliated with a senior Houthi leader, and that fees are deposited into various accounts in multiple jurisdictions through a network of transfers and through adjustments that involve trade-based money laundering.

While the UN team was unable to independently verify this information, sources estimate that the Houthis’ profits from these illegal fees for safe passage are around $180 million per month.

The alleged payment of fees is not the only direct interaction between the Houthis’ growing operations and shipping companies. According to the report, Houthi-controlled companies import oil and liquefied petroleum gas using forged documents of origin, through Hodeidah and Ras Issa, sometimes bypassing inspections by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism.

This happens in two ways: “Some ships travel to the designated country, switching off their AIS transponders to avoid detection, while others carry out ship-to-ship transfers at sea without visiting the ports indicated in the country of origin certificates.”

The UN panel is investigating vessels linked to Hezbollah and high-level Houthi leaders, and has gathered information on a number of individuals, entities and routes. However, due to the lack of evidence linking the entire supply chain and the potential risks of some confidential sources, the panel has not disclosed these details at this stage.

Overall, the UN panel concluded that Yemen's Houthi rebels are transforming themselves into a "powerful military organization" due to "unprecedented" military support from external sources.