US Navy seizes attackers who held Israel-linked tanker. Missiles from rebel-controlled Yemen follow

[Eugene]

Earlier DU threads:
• Attackers seize an Israel-linked tanker off Yemen in a third such assault during the Israel-Hamas war
• AFP: US naval forces are engaged in tanker boarding incident in Yemen

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Source: Associated Press

US Navy seizes attackers who held Israel-linked tanker. Missiles from rebel-controlled Yemen follow

BY JON GAMBRELL
Updated 11:44 PM EST, November 26, 2023

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Armed assailants seized and later let go of a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being apprehended by the United States Navy, officials said. Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near a U.S. warship aiding the tanker in the Gulf of Aden, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government blamed the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, though the rebels in control of the capital, Sanaa, did not acknowledge either the seizure or the missile attack.

The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the U.S. and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-yemen-ship-attack-526842504dc9f6bb7ca6e1d5104f77a3

[moniss]

1. Many people talking about problems in the

Middle East have no idea how dire the situation in Yemen has been and how it continues to be a disaster. Between the Brits and the Ottomans it's amazing there was anything left to fight over and the Saudis have been screwing around forever. To get just a brief glimpse of some of the situation here are some items from the recent past.

First of all they are poor despite having oil. Gee where have we heard that before? Most dire for daily survival at this point is water and over the last decade it has become increasingly apparent that they may be the first country to basically run out of water in their capital city and elsewhere. So between the conflicts and the water issue you have masses of people trying to move to areas to get away from fighting that don't have wells to support that kind of increase. Secondly is the issue of famine which had been developing prior to 2016 but became full blown that year. The population is estimated at over 34 million this year and in 2017 the UN estimated over 50,000 children starved to death. The famine is continuing. The ongoing conflict has, according to UN estimates resulted in over 377,000 dead and of that 70% were children under 5 years old or nearly 264,000 children under the age of 5. All of this in a country with oil and huge proven reserves of natural gas. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world with the worst outlook going forward by all reports from the UN and development/humanitarian organizations. That oil and gas may well be wetting the lips of the Saudis as well as their religious motivations.

Human rights as you can imagine are a disaster in Yemen as well as the famine and water situation. The UN relief agencies were forced to cut over 75% of their assistance in 2020 to the people of Yemen when the Orange Ruski/Jared/Saudis/UAE cut off tens of millions of dollars for those agencies work in Yemen. There is still a blockade more or less of Yemen mainly at the behest of the Saudis and with assistance form the US. Saudi ships routinely block and delay the few UN relief ships that do try to bring aid. The actors in the region deny they are blocking anything at all.

Yes of course the internal military battling in Yemen is too blame also and the radicals are a horrendous issue but I felt it was important to flesh a few things out to give an idea of the magnitude of what is happening to the average person in Yemen. On an editorial note I imagine if the factions in Yemen would agree to submit to Saudi approved "leaders" being installed to run the country, and to sign over all rights to their oil and gas to their new "pals", the Saudis would make sure there was plenty of food and water. The human rights violations would continue to go on because we all know how the Saudis care about that.

[Basic LA]

2. Great background info. Thanks!