By Anadolu staff
ANKARA (AA) – Australia has refused to send warship to support the US-led coalition in the Red Sea amid ongoing Houthi attacks on commercial vessels.
However, Canberra will send additional personnel to help the Washington-led efforts secure the international shipping route, local broadcaster Sky News Australia reported.
Earlier Washington had requested Australia to join a US-led maritime task force in the Red Sea to repel the Houthi group's targeting of Israeli vessels.
“No, we won’t be sending a ship or a plane – that said, we will be almost tripling our contribution to the Combined Maritime Force,” Defense Minister Richard Marles told the broadcaster.
“Right now, we have five personnel who are embedded in the headquarters of the Combined Maritime Force, and over the next month, that number will increase to 16," he said and added: “That is a significant contribution.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier this week the creation of a multinational naval task force to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
According to the US announcement, so far NATO nations the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, and the Netherlands pledged support for the Operation Prosperity Guardian to defend merchant ships transiting between Asia and Europe.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have significantly stepped up their involvement in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip by targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea, saying the move came in solidarity with “the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.”
The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.
*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid