Amid Red Sea attacks, the European Union has launched a maritime security mission to protect cargo ships as Houthi rebels in Yemen targets ships.
The mission, Dubbed Aspides–Greek for shield–will be run out of Larissa in central Greece home to the Hellenic Air Force and a NATO headquarters under the command of Greek Commodore Vasilios Griparis.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have been launching drone and missile attacks on commercial ships over Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas.
The Red Sea is a key shipping route for global trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Meanwhile, US and British forces have bombed multiple targets used by the Houthis.
However, the EU mission will not take part in any military strikes and will only operate at sea.
Within its defensive mandate, the operation will provide maritime situational awareness, accompany vessels, and protect them against possible multi-domain attacks at sea, EU headquarters said in a statement after the bloc’s foreign ministers had endorsed the mission.
Recently, a missile attack by Houthis has damaged a Belize-flagged ship in Gulf of Aden. The crew were forced to abandon the ship due to the damage. The Houthis claimed the attack and said they had shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.