The coalition, called Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), includes the UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, but the leading regional Arab powers – Egypt and Saudi Arabia – are absent. On Monday, the US announced it had assembled a coalition of countries who had agreed to carry out patrols in the southern Red Sea to try to safeguard vessels against attacks. How have the US and other western nations responded?Īs the situation escalated over the past month, the US has repelled attempts to board other cargo ships, while US, French and British warships have shot down Houthi drones and missiles.

From mid-November, however, the group switched tactics to focus on attacking commercial shipping, starting with the seizure of the Galaxy Leader, which was captured in a dramatic video filmed from body-worn cameras.ĭespite the Houthis initially saying that only ships travelling to Israel would be targeted, the threat to trade has grown as vessels flagged to other countries with no connection to Israel have been attacked. Initially the Houthis launched long-range ballistic missiles at Israel, but these were ineffective and some were intercepted by the US and the Saudis. While other Muslim countries and groups have chosen not to try to help Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis declared war on Israel at the end of October.

They are aligned with and supplied by Iran, but are politically independent. The Houthis are a Yemeni rebel group who control the west of the country, including its Red Sea coast. Who are the Houthis and why are they attacking now? Billions of dollars of traded goods and supplies pass through the Red Sea every year, meaning that delays there can affect petrol prices, the availability of electronics and other aspects of global trade.

About 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic.

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