Red Sea: Houthis attack US ship; Sunak responds to Congress after Yemen assault

Frictions are rising between Yemen's Houthi rebels and the West, in the Red Sea. The US Central Command confirmed that the majority Shiite group launched several ballistic missiles on January 15, one of which hit its container ship M/V Gibraltar Eagle.

The attack, which Washington says was launched from areas of northern and western Yemen controlled by the Houthis, left no injuries or fatalities.

But the projectile caused a fire in a hold of the ship, while it was transiting off the coast of Aden, said the British maritime safety company Ambrey.

In total, the Houthis launched three projectiles, Ambrey said, although he agreed with the US version that only one hit the ship.

For its part, Washington reported that the M/V Gibraltar Eagle – flagged by the Marshall Islands and owned by the United States – did not suffer significant damage, so it continued its journey.

Hours earlier, the US Central Command said its forces detected another anti-ship ballistic missile that was fired by the Houthis against “the commercial maritime routes of the southern Red Sea.” However, he assured, the projectile “failed in flight and hit the ground in Yemen.”

And on Sunday, January 14, the U.S. military said one of its fighter jets shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from a Houthi-controlled area of ​​Yemen toward a U.S. Navy ship operating in the south. of the Red Sea.

These new attacks by the Houthis come after the military forces of the United States and the United Kingdom launched a flurry of maritime and air attacks against the group in Yemeni territory on January 11.

The onslaught of the Western allies attacked more than 60 targets in 16 sites in that country. According to the movement, five of its fighters were killed and six were wounded, for which it had already promised retaliation.

Washington and London defended that they acted in response to the “unprecedented” attacks by the Houthis against vessels in that maritime area, which have threatened international trade.

The rebel movement, supported by Iran, has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea for several weeks, linked, it claims, to Israel or destined for Israeli ports, as a sign of its support for the Palestinians trapped in the war between Hamas and the Army. From Israel.

The Houthis warn that they will continue to attack that crucial waterway – which allows cargo and energy shipments between Asia and the Middle East to the Suez Canal and then to Europe – which threatens to widen that confrontation and turn it into a regional conflict.

In London there are those who fear greater involvement of their country in the already tense situation in the Middle East, which is why in the last few hours Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a session in the House of Commons.

“It was a necessary and proportionate response”: Sunak defends attacks in Yemen

Amid questions from several legislators who criticized his authorization for British forces to participate alongside the United States in last week's attacks on Yemeni soil, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended that his troops acted in self-defense and to protect freedom of navigation.

“I do not make decisions about the use of force lightly. That is why I emphasize that this action was taken in self-defense. It was limited, not scalable. “It was a necessary and proportionate response to a direct threat to United Kingdom ships and, therefore, to the United Kingdom itself,” remarked the leader of the British Government.

As part of his defense, Sunak highlighted that there is no evidence of civilian casualties and that, instead, the assaults “successfully” attacked at least 13 Houthi targets.

Despite the statements of self-defense, several legislators, such as the former leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, questioned the actions of their Armed Forces, under Sunak's order, in Yemeni territory.

Corbyn recalled that there are 17 million people in Yemen living in famine. “Where is the comprehensive plan of Western nations to bring peace to the region? (…) Instead of injecting more and more weapons and money into more and more conflicts, which will get worse, does (Sunak) have any hope for the future that there will be a decrease in conflict instead of a rapid increase in it? the legislator questioned.

But the British premier insisted on his defense and even warned that he “will not hesitate” to authorize new attacks against the Houthis if necessary.

The debate and fears about a possible extension of a conflict in the Middle East, within the framework of the Israeli Army's war in Gaza, backed by the West, has already reached the British Parliament. However, Sunak insisted that military actions against the Houthis are independent of what is happening in the Palestinian enclave and are instead a direct response to Houthi attacks on international shipping.

“We should not fall into the (Houthis) evil narrative that it is about Israel and Gaza. They target ships from all over the world. And we continue to work towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and more aid to civilians. We also continue to support a negotiated solution to the Yemen civil war. But I want to make it very clear that this action has no relation to those issues,” he stated.

Most of the Labor opposition, the favorite party in public opinion polls, supports these actions by Sunak. However, he asks Parliament for greater transparency and explanations.

With Reuters, AP, EFE and local media