By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged countries on Tuesday to join international actions to ensure security in the Red Sea against Yemen's Houthi attacks.
"To address this unprecedented series of attacks, the Secretary urged participants to join U.S.-led and other international initiatives and work with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) and the 39-member Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to restore security in the Red Sea to deter future Houthi aggression," the Pentagon said in a statement.
Right after Austin announced the creation of a multinational mission to counter attacks by the Iranian-back group on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, he convened a virtual ministerial conference with ministers, chiefs of defense and senior representatives from 43 countries, as well as the EU and NATO, to discuss the increased threat to maritime security in the Red Sea.
The Operation Prosperity Guardian, "an important new" multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of Task Force 153, will gather 10 countries, including the UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
"Secretary Austin reaffirmed U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways and outlined the ways Houthi attacks are destabilizing maritime security," said the Pentagon statement.
Austin underscored that attacks had already affected the global economy and would continue to threaten commercial shipping if the international community did not come together to address the issue collectively.
"Secretary Austin condemned Houthi attacks on international shipping and global commerce as unprecedented and unacceptable, noting the attacks threaten the free flow of commerce and endanger innocent mariners," it said.
The statement said the Houthis had conducted more than 100 one-way uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and ballistic missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different nations.
The Houthi attacks against commercial vessels escalated in the wake of the Gaza conflict which started in early October. The US believes the attacks are enabled by Iran.