2023-12-31 17:10:13
Washington delivers the first painful blow to the Houthis since the launch of the “Prosperity Guardian”
The United States thwarted a new Houthi piracy operation on Sunday, and dealt the pro-Iranian group the first painful blow since the launch of the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition to protect navigation in the southern Red Sea, in terms of killing ten fighters who were on board three boats that were sunk while a fourth boat escaped.
While Britain informed Iran of responsibility for the Houthi attacks, which amounted to regarding 24 attacks once morest cargo ships, Washington announced that it shot down, on Saturday, two missiles that were targeting a ship, according to what US Central Command announced.
American destroyers in the Red Sea support cargo ships (AP)
Meanwhile, the British Sunday Times reported that London is preparing for air strikes alongside Washington once morest a bank of targets, and the operations may be at sea or inside Yemen, according to the newspaper, which quoted British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps as saying, “If the Houthis continue to threaten lives and trade, we will have to… To take the necessary and appropriate measures.”
Commenting on the recurrence of Houthi attacks in the southern Red Sea, the Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, said in an exclusive statement to Asharq Al-Awsat: “This is a natural result of the international community’s laxity and its disregard for not implementing the Stockholm Agreement, which essentially came as a political alternative following stopping the process of The liberation of Hodeidah by the legitimate (Yemeni) government.”
Yemeni Foreign Minister Dr. Awad bin Mubarak attending a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah during May 2023 (Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The Yemeni minister recalled that his government had warned “repeatedly (…) of the danger of allowing an armed ideological group to undermine regional and international security and stability and threaten international navigation,” and he believed that “the permanent and sustainable solution is to implement international resolutions and enable the government and its forces to exercise their sovereign duty to protect Its coasts and territorial waters.
Sunday operation: Ten Houthis were killed and a boat escaped
The US Central Command confirmed, in a statement on the “X” platform, the destruction of 3 out of 4 Houthi boats through which Houthi militants attempted to pirate the giant container ship “Maersk Hangistu” in the southern Red Sea on Sunday morning.
The statement said that at exactly 6:30 am (Sanaa time), the container ship “Maersk Hangzhou” issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours stating that it had been attacked by 4 small boats belonging to the Houthis.
The statement explained that small boats that launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen opened fire on the service crew and small arms rounds on the Maersk Hangzhou ship, and reached a distance of 20 meters from the ship, and attempted to board it.
While the ship’s contracted security team responded by firing on the attackers, the American helicopters responded to the distress call, and while issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the boats opened fire on the helicopters, which responded in self-defense, leading to the sinking of 3 of the 4 small boats and the death of the personnel. The crew and the fourth boat fled the area, and no damage was caused to American personnel or equipment. According to the statement.
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red SeaOn Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed… pic.twitter.com/pj8NAzjbVF
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2023
Agence France-Presse quoted a shipping source in the port of Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthis (who refused to reveal his name), “Ten Houthis were killed and two were rescued, and two were injured in the American bombing on Houthi boats that wanted to stop a ship off Hodeidah.” Another shipping source, without revealing his identity, confirmed the death toll, noting that “four survivors arrived in Hodeidah with two wounded people who were transferred to Al-Samad Hospital.”
The group later acknowledged the killing of the ten members in a statement, but refused to acknowledge the escape of the fourth boat, which appeared to have wounded people on board.
The Houthi group claims that it is targeting cargo ships heading to and from Israel, in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, and threatens further escalation, which the Yemeni government sees as a threat to the peace process, and plunging the country into new crises.
The operation to thwart Houthi piracy came the day following the Houthis fired a missile at the same ship, and the destruction of two other missiles by the US Navy.
In a statement to the US Central Command, it said that on Saturday evening, around 8:30 pm (Sanaa time), the container ship “Maersk Hangzhou” was hit by a missile while crossing the southern Red Sea, and the container ship owned/operated by Denmark and flying the Singapore flag requested assistance. It was reported to be seaworthy, and no casualties were reported.
During the response, the statement stated that the American ship USS GRAVELY shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles launched from areas controlled by the Houthis. This is the twenty-third illegal attack launched by the Houthis on shipping, according to the statement.
A Danish news agency quoted Maersk as saying that it would stop all sailing operations through the Red Sea for 48 hours.
Britain holds Iran responsible
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron held Iran responsible for the attacks in the Red Sea, and Archyde.com quoted him as telling his Iranian counterpart that Tehran bears responsibility for the attacks in the Red Sea, and that he explained to him that his country must share the responsibility for preventing Houthi attacks.
As of December 23, the Houthis loyal to Iran launched more than 100 attacks using drones and missiles targeting 10 commercial ships, according to the US Department of Defense.
The Houthi group is still detaining the international tanker “Galaxy Leader,” managed by a Japanese company, following pirating it in November and arresting its crew, turning it into a shrine for its followers.
Latest attacks
On December 29, the US Navy Command stated through its account in “X” that it had shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile launched by the Houthi group in Yemen, denying that any damage had occurred to any of the 18 ships present in the region as a result of the Houthi attack, which it said was the 22nd of the attacks carried out by the Houthis. Against international ships since October 19.
On December 26, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Authority said, in an advisory report, that two drones were detected before two explosions occurred at a distance of 5 nautical miles from a ship located 50 nautical miles west of Hodeidah on the western coast of Yemen.
The authority said – according to what was reported by Archyde.com – that in an apparent separate incident, explosions were heard, and missiles were seen at a distance of 4 nautical miles from a ship 60 nautical miles from Hodeidah.
On December 24, Washington said that it shot down 4 Houthi drones that were targeting one of its destroyers, and that two missiles targeted shipping lanes, as two ships reported being attacked without causing damage.
The Houthi group took advantage of Israel’s war on Gaza to mobilize new recruits and raise money (Archyde.com)
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Houthi group, Muhammad Abdel Salam, claimed that an American warship opened fire to shoot down a reconnaissance plane belonging to his group, and that an American missile exploded near a ship belonging to Gabon that was heading to the southern Red Sea following it sailed from Russia.
On December 19, unknown persons, believed to be linked to the Houthi group in Yemen, attempted to carry out new piracy operations once morest at least two ships, the day following Washington announced the formation of a multinational coalition to protect navigation in the Red Sea (Guardian of Prosperity). On the same day, the Iranian-backed group claimed two new drone attacks on two tankers in the Red Sea.
On December 16, US Central Command said in a statement that an American destroyer equipped with guided missiles shot down 14 drones launched by the Houthi group in Yemen in the Red Sea.
On December 14, the Trade Operations Authority, affiliated with the British Navy, indicated reports of an incident near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, and said in a statement on the “X” platform that the incident occurred 60 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeidah.
Hours earlier, the same authority reported that it had received reports of an incident occurring north of the Yemeni port of Mokha, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. In both incidents, the authority advised ships passing in the area to be careful and report any suspicious activities.
Cannon of an American destroyer participating in protecting navigation in the Red Sea (AP)
On December 11, the French Ministry of Defense said that the French frigate “Frame Languedoc” intercepted and destroyed a drone that was threatening the Norwegian oil tanker “Strinda” as part of a complex air attack launched from Yemen.
It explained that the attack caused a fire on board the tanker sailing under the Norwegian flag, while the US Central Command stated that the oil tanker “Strinda” was hit by a winged missile launched from Yemen from an area controlled by the Houthis, noting that the ship reported “damage.” It caused a fire on board,” confirming that a US Navy destroyer responded to a distress call issued by the ship and extended a helping hand.
On December 10, a French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, according to what the French Armed Forces Chief of Staff announced.
The authority said in a statement carried by Agence France-Presse that the multi-tasking frigate “Languedoc” operating in the Red Sea “intercepted and destroyed these two specific threats.”
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