Anti-Houthi coalition expands, now over 20 nations
Australia, Greece and eight other countries that declined to be named will help fend off drone and missile strikes of merchant ships by the Houthis.
Daily TribuneAustralia, Greece and eight other countries that declined to be named will help fend off drone and missile strikes of merchant ships by the Houthis.
From an initial 10 countries, the United States-led coalition of navies that will defend merchant ships transiting the Red Sea from drone and missile attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen has expanded to more than 20 countries.
"We've had over 20 nations now sign on to participate" in the coalition, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told journalists on Thursday.
Australia and Greece were among the latest additions to the coalition with at least eight countries that have signed up declining to be publicly named due to political sensitivities of the operation as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war, according to a Reuters report.
The other coalition participants are the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
The US announced the multinational Red Sea coalition dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian on Monday in response to the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen repeatedly targeting vessels passing the vital shipping lane with drone and missile strikes. The Houthis say the attacks are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling fighters of the Hamas terrorist group.
US warships in the area reportedly shot down the explosive drones and missiles with no reports of casualty.
Ryder said the Houthis are "attacking the economic wellbeing and prosperity of nations around the world," effectively becoming "bandits along the international highway that is the Red Sea."
Coalition forces will "serve as a highway patrol of sorts, patrolling the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to respond to — and assist as necessary — commercial vessels that are transiting this vital international waterway," he said, calling on the Houthis to cease their attacks.
The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack on 7 October that killed around 1,140 people in Israel, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel began a relentless bombardment of targets in Gaza, alongside a ground invasion, which Gaza's Hamas government on Wednesday said has killed at least 20,000 people.
Those deaths have provoked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for attacks by armed groups in the region, including the Houthi strikes on Red Sea shipping.