US announces new naval task force as Houthis threaten Red Sea shipping

MANAMA, Bahrain — On Tuesday local time in the Bahraini capital of Manama, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new maritime task force mission in a bid to deter a spate of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb strait by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Defense Secretary Austin announced the new mission, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, under an existing US Navy-led security task force stood up last year to boost patrols in the waterway, which forms a key chokepoint on the global economy.

The multinational mission will include contributions from the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, the Pentagon announced, “to jointly address security challenges” in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

At least some of the contributing nations are expected to conduct joint patrols in the strategic waterway, defense officials said.