The United States and at least nine other nations will launch a new international mission to combat attacks by Yemeni Huthi rebels once morest ships in the Red Sea, said Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of Defense, yesterday.
“This is an international challenge that requires collective action,” said Lloyd Austin, in a statement released from Bahrain, where he met with ministers from the Middle East and other countries to address the situation in the Red Sea.
The Secretary of Defense announced “the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a major new multinational security initiative”, with the participation of the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
Some of the countries will carry out joint patrols, while others will provide intelligence support in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Prosperity Guardian mission will be coordinated by the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), which includes a working group, CTF 153, created in April 2022 to improve maritime security in the Red Sea and Bab el Strait. Mandeb.
The CMF is made up of 39 countries, including Portugal, and US officials said they were in talks to determine which nations will participate in the new mission.
Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for the creation of “a truly international coalition” to combat Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and for actions led by the United States to be “boosted and strengthened”.
The Huthi rebel movement belongs to the so-called “axis of resistance”, together with Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Shiite groups Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas After the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis launched several shots of missiles and “drones” once morest southern Israel and also once morest ships flying the Israeli flag or owned by Israeli companies in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Since Friday, the main shipping groups have been suspending their operations in the Red Sea, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, and on Monday the oil company BP joined them, temporarily canceling the passage of its ships across the region.
The tanker Swan Atlantic was attacked on Monday while sailing in the Red Sea, according to the company that owns it, the Norwegian company Inventor Chemical Tankers, following the British Navy warned of new incidents near the strait.
The Norwegian Shipping Association has urged Norwegian and international authorities to find a solution to ensure the safety of civilian ships in the Red Sea.
