The European Union has officially launched a naval mission to protect ships in the Red Sea from Yemen’s Houthis. This comes amid a new attack that forced the crew of one ship to abandon ship and damaged another ship.
.in_text_content_22 { width: 300px; height: 600px; } @media(min-width: 600px) { .in_text_content_22 { width: 580px; height: 400px; } }
The EU mission will include at least four warships at all times.
Germany has sent the frigate Hesse to the shores of Yemen, with about 250 Bundeswehr soldiers on board.
The United States already leads its own naval coalition in the region and has previously carried out retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, as has the UK.
The fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea is the biggest battle of the US Navy since World War II, writes CBSnews.
The confrontation with Yemeni forces in the Red Sea is considered the largest conflict between US forces since World War II, said Vice Admiral Cooper of US Central Command.
The Houthis attacked at least 45 ships and the US Navy shot down more than 95 drones and missiles fired from Yemen, according to the Pentagon.
On Saturday, CENTCOM successfully struck three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) and one surface unmanned vehicle (USV), Central Command said in a statement. The military says this is the first tracked use of an underwater drone by the Houthis since the Oct. 23 attacks.
On February 19, the Houthis announced a new attack on a merchant ship. The Rubymar crew had to evacuate.
A spokesman for the group said the Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo ship Rubymar was at risk of sinking after being hit by a missile.
Britain’s Maritime Trade Authority said the unnamed vessel, which was damaged by an explosion, had been abandoned off the coast of Yemen.
According to the Lloyd’s List Intelligence information service, the ship was hit by two missiles and was seriously damaged.
The Houthis began attacking ships in the Red Sea after Israel began its war with Hamas. Yemen’s Houthi rebel group Ansar Allah said it entered the Gaza war on the side of Hamas.
The rebels claim that they only target ships entering Israeli ports or ships whose owners have ties to Israel (although the Houthis have repeatedly attacked ships with no ties to Israel).
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.