The third naval operation in the Gulf of Aden within days… America continues its maneuvers, and Europe warns of collapse

Western-American conflicts over maritime passages in the Gulf returned to the forefront on Thursday, amidst an escalation of attacks on ships near the Somali coasts.

Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), affiliated with the Royal Navy, disclosed a new operation, the third within a few days.

The operation occurred near the Somali coasts on the Gulf of Aden, where gunmen riding small boats targeted an “unidentified” cargo ship with machine guns and “RPG” rounds.

The authority confirmed that the armed men successfully boarded the ship without disclosing its fate.

It also merely directed ships to take more security and vigilance measures.

This operation is the second this week and the third in recent days.

The operation coincided with ongoing exercises overseen by the US Central Command from Bahrain, which include regaining control of the sea lanes near Yemen.

Three teams are participating in the operation, which was branded with an old slogan translating to “Free Sea.”

It is unknown whether the escalation of operations is linked to new military movements in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait or an attempt to justify them.

These military moves coincide with new attempts at the UN to link the “Ansar Allah” movement to them, even though it halted its operations in support of Gaza upon the implementation of the ceasefire and the lifting of the siege on the Strip.

A report by the UN Committee of Experts included broad allegations in its latest report about the relationship between those it described as the “Houthis” and the Somali Al-Shabaab movement, claiming that Yemen is training elements of the Somali movement.

These developments come at a time when Western countries allied with the occupation have begun issuing warnings about concerns regarding the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

During a speech at the Manama Forum, the Cypriot Foreign Minister expressed fears of a collapse of security in the two most important maritime passages in the Gulf, considering that this affects the safety of navigation to his country’s ports near Yemen, which were originally used as a British base for the war on Yemen recently.

Although piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, in particular, have been ongoing for a long time and are linked to the conflict in Somalia, the recent movements reveal a new race for control over the sea lanes, coinciding with America’s attempt to dominate the scene after being militarily sidelined from it, which may ignite the fuse of a new international war.