While our media worry about important stuff such as Greg Wallace and a cookery programme, MercoPress has a reminder that Houthi attacks along the Red Sea have not ceased.
Maybe Starmer has it as one of his "milestones" and David Lammy is busy working on it.
Western military pressure has been unable to stop Houthis attacks along the Red Sea, IISS report
The Houthis are growing in strength and trade through the Red Sea is declining despite ongoing international military pressure on the rebel group, a study has warned. The report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said missions such as Operation Prosperity Guardian, Operation Poseidon Archer and EUNAVFOR Aspides had made little impact.
The paper, called Navigating Troubled Waters: The Houthis' Campaign in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, said military strikes had only temporarily disrupted the group's capabilities...
The question remains, why haven't the Houthis been weakened? The IISS report highlights several factors explaining the Houthis' resilience despite sustained international military pressure: Terrain and concealment, Iranian support, Evolving tactics, refining targeting criteria and weapons system; The use of low-cost, high-impact weapons, such as UAVs and uncrewed surface vessels, places disproportionate strain on the expensive defensive systems of their adversaries, and finally, international operations, including Operation Prosperity Guardian and EUNAVFOR Aspides, are primarily naval and lack ground components, limiting their ability to neutralize Houthi positions or disrupt supply chains.
Western military pressure has been unable to stop Houthis attacks along the Red Sea, IISS report
The Houthis are growing in strength and trade through the Red Sea is declining despite ongoing international military pressure on the rebel group, a study has warned. The report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said missions such as Operation Prosperity Guardian, Operation Poseidon Archer and EUNAVFOR Aspides had made little impact.
The paper, called Navigating Troubled Waters: The Houthis' Campaign in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, said military strikes had only temporarily disrupted the group's capabilities...
The question remains, why haven't the Houthis been weakened? The IISS report highlights several factors explaining the Houthis' resilience despite sustained international military pressure: Terrain and concealment, Iranian support, Evolving tactics, refining targeting criteria and weapons system; The use of low-cost, high-impact weapons, such as UAVs and uncrewed surface vessels, places disproportionate strain on the expensive defensive systems of their adversaries, and finally, international operations, including Operation Prosperity Guardian and EUNAVFOR Aspides, are primarily naval and lack ground components, limiting their ability to neutralize Houthi positions or disrupt supply chains.
4 comments:
What a maze the middle-east is … who would wish to be entangled?
James - it is a maze, who would wish to be entangled indeed, but we don't get to vote on that.
I was recently talking to a retired naval officer who spent a lot of time in the Straits of Hormuz. And it had to be a lot of time, because the minesweeping process he was involved in is very slow and expensive. A helicopter has to trail a cable with some sonar thingies in the water, and proceed at walking pace, looking for Houthi mines. The mines are sophisticated, programmable to allow any set number of ships to pass over them before exploding. They can be laid from a small fast rib., and a decoy oil-drum would also trigger a search. If the Straits were closed, our supply chains for basics like petrol and groceries would be impacted within days.
They've cut the Navy, are (he said) working staff to exhaustion levels, and now we've got Lammy dealing with the situation.
Sam - interesting and also interesting that senior politicians and bureaucrats must be briefed on such issues. If our media were any good, this would be common knowledge too. Still, as you say, we've got Lammy dealing with the situation.
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