Operation Prosperity Guardian-Details, Participants, Houthis, Red Sea

The United States has announced the formation of an increased naval protection force operating in the southern Red Sea to deter increasing assaults on commerce ships by Yemen's rebel Houthis. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the new operation would be dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian and would be essential to combat the recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating in Yemen.

What is Operation Prosperity Guardian?

• Operation Prosperity Guardian is a military operation launched by a multinational coalition in December 2023 in response to Houthi-led attacks on Red Sea commerce.
• Lloyd Austin, the United States Secretary of Defence, announced the development of a worldwide maritime security force.
• Patrols in the Southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden will be conducted jointly by these countries.
• Since 2014, the Houthis have been conducting a war with Yemen's Saudi-backed government to gain control of the whole country. 

Participants of Operation Prosperity Guardian 

• Currently, Operation Prosperity Guardian has over 20 members.
• Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom participate in Operation Prosperity Guardian. 
• As more maritime corporations avoid routes, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are noticeably absent from Operation Prosperity Guardian.

How are Houthis?

• The Houthis are an Islamist political and militant force that arose in the 1990s from Sadah in northern Yemen. 
• They belong to the Zaidi Shia Muslim minority.  

About Houthi Movement

• The Houthi movement is also known as Ansarallah (God's Supporters).
• It is an aspect of Yemen's civil conflict, which lasted for almost a decade. 
• It first appeared in the 1990s, when Hussein al-Houthi established "Believing Youth," a religious revival movement for Zaidism, a centuries-old subsect of Shia Islam.

Red Sea

• The Red Sea is an Indian Ocean inlet located between Africa and Asia.
• It is linked to the Indian Ocean in the south via the Bab-El-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
• The Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez are located to the north.
• The Red Sea is bordered by six nations: - 
• Egypt
• Saudi Arabia
• Yemen
• Sudan
• Eritrea
• Djibouti