It is not yet known who broke these cables. There have been fears the Houthis could attack them in their campaign against shipping in the Red Sea, which the rebels describe as an attempt to force Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have denied attacking these lines of communication.
Global shipping in the Red Sea has already been significantly disrupted by Houthi attacks, and the sabotage of telecommunications lines could further escalate the months-long crisis.
Asia-Africa-Europe 1, Europe India Gateway and Seacom-TGN-Gulf were among the broken lines, Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications said. It admitted that these outages affect 25% of traffic in the Red Sea.
The company called the Red Sea route important for data transmission from Asia to Europe and said it had begun diverting that traffic.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government-in-exile claimed in early February that the Houthis were planning to attack communications cables.
The Houthis deny that they attacked the cables and blame US and British military operations for the disruption of communications.
Currently, 14 communication cables cross the Red Sea, and six more are planned.
2024-03-05 05:46:29
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