The Pentagon announced this Monday a military coalition made up of 10 countriess to ensure safety and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea in the face of attacks by Houthi rebels from Yemen. The coalition is made up, in addition to the United States, of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Bahrain and Seychelles.

The North American Secretary of State, Lloyd Austin, reported this Monday of the launch of Operation Guardian of Prosperity to guarantee the security of the maritime traffic in the Red Sea. The coalition has been created, according to the secretary, “to address the challenges to security in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with the objective of guaranteeing freedom of navigation for all countries and promoting security and prosperity regional”.

“There is an international challenge that requires collective action. Therefore, today I announce the creation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of Task Force 153 that focuses on security in the Red Sea,” Austin proclaimed from Bahrain, where he is visiting. “The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks coming from the Yemen threatens free flow of trade, endangers the lives of innocent sailors and represents a breach of international law,” he noted.

A “critically important sea lane”

Austin has recalled that the Red Sea “It is a critically important sea lane which has been essential to freedom of navigation, a major trade corridor that facilitates international trade.” “Countries that want to maintain the founding principle of freedom of navigation must come together to meet the challenge of this non-state actor that launches ballistic missiles and vehicles unmanned aerial against merchant ships from many countries that legitimately transit through international waters,” he argued.

The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Sari, confirmed this Monday two attacks against two ships which it considers linked to Israel: the oil tanker ‘Swan Atlantic’, flagged in the Cayman Islands – although it is owned by the Norwegian Inventor Chemical Tankers – and the cargo ship ‘MSC Clara’, flagged in Panama.