MITALI RAHMAN MITA
The United States on Thursday sent new negative signals against Houthi foes for rocket transport aimed at the Red Ocean, as developing pressure on the region's sea lanes disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply disruptions that could reignite the expansion.
Two of the boat rockets designated for strikes by Yemen's Houthis were poised to end up in the Red Sea and were considered "an imminent threat" to shipping and US Navy ships in the district, the US military said.
Attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi civilian army on ships in and around the Red Sea since November have eased trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in the escalation of conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
In the second attack on a US-operated ship in the district this week, the Genco Picardy was attacked in the Gulf of Aden late on Wednesday, setting off a fire and prompting the Indian Navy to rescue the group.
India has sent a warship to the area to protect the 22 crew aboard Genco Picardy, including nine Indians. The team was all safe and the fire was extinguished.
The Houthis say they are working firmly with the Palestinians and have taken steps to target US ships in light of American and British attacks on assembly sites.
The approach sought by U.S. President Joe Biden — a mix of limited military strikes and support — appears geared toward preventing a broader center-east struggle while Washington tries to repel the Houthis, security and military experts said.
Biden acknowledged on Thursday that the strike had not stopped attacks by the attackers but said the US military response would go ahead.
"Can it be said that they are stopping the Houthis? No. Can it be said that they will advance? Indeed," Biden told reporters aboard Flying Corps One.
The Pentagon tried to portray the US attack as a watchful display of maritime defense.
"We are not at war with the Houthis," Pentagon representative Sabrina Singh said. "The Houthis are the ones who keep sending cruise rockets, hostile to deliver rockets to innocent mariners... What we are doing with our allies, is self-defense."
In the most recent sign that the Houthis are trying to go after the ships steadily, British maritime security agency Ambre said a Marshall Islands-recognized material item revealed the robots' suspicious approach 103 miles southeast of the large hauler Aden.
The Houthis have claimed responsibility, saying they targeted an American boat chemical officer with a sea-based rocket, causing a "direct hit".
"The Yemeni military confirms that retaliation for the American and British attacks is inevitable, and that any new hostilities will not be tolerated," a demand from the rally said.
In another episode, Ambrey said, a U.S.-claimed large vehicle detailed four automated ethereal vehicles approached and surrounded the ship, about 87 miles southeast of Mukalla, Yemen.
Following the attack in Genco Picardy, the US military said its forces fired 14 Houthi rockets on Wednesday that "presented an imminent danger to shipping and US Navy ships in the area". White House public safety spokesman John Kirby told columnists on board the aviation-based Armed Forces One that Thursday's strike was similar to Wednesday's.
News Source-REUTERS
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