Yemen – Red Sea

U.S. forces carried out airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi militant weapons storage sites in Yemen, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The strikes, conducted by B-2 bombers, targeted weapons the Houthis have used in a yearlong campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that have disrupted major sea shipping routes.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an explosive-loaded drone that crashed into one ship Tuesday in the Red Sea and a missile that exploded against another. The attacks are the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict. 

[…] Adopting resolution 2739 (2024), with 12 votes in favour and three abstentions (Algeria, China and Russia), the Council also requested monthly reports from the Secretary-General on the crisis in the Red Sea until January next year. 

The aim of this snapshot analysis is to highlight a number of strategic questions that are likely to remain relevant as the USled Operation Guardian and the EU operation, Aspides, evolve. 

In less than two months the newest European Union (EU) naval force – Operation Aspides concentrated on the Red Sea – repelled 11 attacks and escorted close to 70 ships in the Indian Ocean inlet between Africa and Asia. … Speaking at the first Aspides media briefing, EU Vice President Josep Borrell said the operation was a clear and fast response to the deteriorating situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the Hesse frigate, which arrived in the region at the weekend as part of an EU mission to help secure international shipping from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, opened fire after efforts to identify the unknown drone "were unsuccessful."

The Council launched today EUNAVFOR ASPIDES. The objective of this defensive maritime security operation is to restore and safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf.