Israeli news outlet Globe suggested the Houthis were behind the cable damage. (representative)
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region have damaged undersea cables in the region, disrupting global telecommunications networks and forcing internet providers to reroute as much as a quarter between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, CNN reported One flow rate.
Hong Kong telecommunications company Hutchison Global Crossing issued a report saying that the Houthis continued to launch indiscriminate attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.
According to HGC, cables belonging to the four major telecommunications networks have been “cut”, causing “severe” disruptions to the Middle East’s communication networks.
Monday’s report said the telecom company estimated that 25% of traffic between Asia and Europe and the Middle East was affected, CNN reported.
Additionally, the company said it is rerouting traffic to minimize disruption to customers and “providing assistance to impacted businesses.”
However, HGC did not mention the cause of the cable damage or who was responsible.
Weeks ago, Yemen’s official government warned that cables could be attacked by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have disrupted global supply chains by attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea, CNN reported.
Israeli news outlet Globe suggested in a report last week that the Houthis were behind the cable damage.
However, Yemeni rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi denied the accusations and said: “We have no intention of targeting submarine cables that provide internet to countries in the region.”
The affected network includes the European India Gateway, which spans 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) across Europe, the Middle East and India.
In addition, according to CNN, a 25,000-kilometer Asia-Africa-Europe cable system connecting Southeast Asia and Europe via Egypt was also damaged.
The Houthis have been conducting attacks on commercial and military shipping since November.
The Houthis initially said they would target ships with ties to Israel to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, but later expanded their targeting to ships with ties to Britain and the United States, Al Jazeera reported.
Last month, U.S. and British armed forces, with support from several other countries, carried out attacks on 18 Houthi armed targets in areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi armed forces in Yemen.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
