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Yemen’s Houthis militants have announced on Monday that they have cut three Red Sea internet and telecommunication cables which provides data globally.
Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications issued a short statement confirming the data cables had been severed and did not go into any further details.
The cutting of the three Red Sea cables could escalate the situation in the region which has seen shipping attacked, one vessel sunk and there has been numerous air attacks on Yemen by the US and UK.
The Houthis have cut the Europe India Gateway, Seacom and TGN-Gulf, Asi-Africa-Europe 1, according to HGC Global Communications
Some 25% of the traffic which goes through the Red Sea has been affected, there are crucial for data to flow from Asia to Europe.
Tata Communications, who are behind the Seacom-TGN-Gulf line, spoke to AP, they said, they had “initiated immediate and appropriate remedial actions” after the line was cut.
“We invest in various cable consortiums to increase our diversity and hence in such situations of a cable cut or snag, we are able to automatically reroute our services.”
According to Tim Stronge, a subsea cable expert with TeleGeography, a Washington-based telecommunications market research company said the HGC Global Communications had said that the Seacom-TGN-Gulf line is actually now two separate cables.
Seacom told AP, that “initial testing indicates the affected segment lies within Yemeni maritime jurisdictions in the Southern Red Sea.”
They are re-routing traffic that they can change, however some services remain down.
AP asked other companies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East who are behind those lines, they have not made any comment.
The Houthi-controlled Transportation Ministry in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, claimed, “The hostilities on Yemen by the British and U.S. naval military units caused a disruption in the submarine cables in the Red Sea, which jeopardized the security and safety of international communications and the normal flow of information.”
Underwater cables can also be cut by ships anchors and some had to be cut or were disabled after Houthis missile attacks.
Seacom said, “Our team thinks it is plausible that it could have been affected by anchor dragging, due to the amount of marine traffic the region deals with and the low seabed in many parts of the Red Sea.
“This can only be confirmed once the repair ship is on site.”
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