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Houthis protest in support of Palestinians (Image: Getty)
A former senior British Army officer has warned Western leaders that Yemen's Houthi rebels could now pose a greater terrorist and security threat than either Hamas or Hezbollah.
His warning comes as a new UN report says the Iran-backed militia is transforming itself into a "powerful military organisation".
Iran has been rocked by Israel's brutal assault on its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, which have suffered devastating losses.
The Israelis have succeeded in eliminating many of their top commanders and political leaders, leaving them temporarily rudderless.
A Houthi guard on board the seized British-owned Galaxy Leader (Image: Getty)
But Tehran still has a strong and largely in-tact ally in the Middle East that could yet pose serious security threats to the West if left to their own devices.
Colonel Richard Kemp, who led British forces in Afghanistan, told The Sun: "The Houthis are largely undamaged so far.
"We need to look out for a potentially greater terrorist threat than we're seeing from them now."
He urged Western leaders to deal with the Houthis "much more strongly" and as a matter of urgency.
The Iranian-backed rebels have regularly targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, in an attempt to disrupt international trade.
Last November, the £39 million British-Israeli Galaxy Leader cargo ship was hijacked by Houthi pirates.
Its entire crew were taken hostage in a "revenge" move for Israel's attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A UN report published on Friday warned that the Houthis were fast becoming a formidable regional force.
The authors said the rebels had received "unprecedented" military support from outside sources, particularly Iran and Hezbollah.
In particular they noted "the transformation of the Houthis from a localised armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organisation, extending their operational capabilities well beyond the territories under their control."
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The report highlighted the rebels growing contacts with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and pro-Tehran groups in Iraq.
"Joint operational centres have been set up in Iraq and Lebanon, with Houthi representation, aimed at coordinating joint military actions," they wrote.
"The scale, nature and extent of transfers of diverse military material technology provided to the Houthis from external sources, including financial support and training of its combatants, is unprecedented."
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