More than twenty countries are now members of the Red Sea coalition against the Houthis
“We now have more than twenty nations committed to participating” in the U.S.-led coalition aimed at protecting Red Sea maritime traffic from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, he told reporters on Thursday . Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder.
A recent wave of drone and missile attacks by these rebels on ships in the Red Sea threatens to disrupt global trade flows as major shipping companies cut off passage through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait. In view of this, Washington set up a new multinational maritime protection force earlier this week.
Yemeni rebels are “attacking the prosperity and economic well-being of nations around the world,” Pat Ryder said, calling them “bandits on the international highway that is the Red Sea.” This military coalition “must act as a street police officer, patrolling the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to respond.” [appels de] We will protect the merchant ships passing through this important international route and assist them if necessary,” he said, reiterating his call on the Houthis to stop their attacks.
A senior official from the Iran-backed group said this week that these attacks would only stop “if Israel stops its crimes and food, medicine and fuel reach the besieged population” in the Gaza Strip. in the context of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Greece announced on Thursday that it was part of the coalition along with the first partner countries: France, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the Seychelles.