BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 4. The United States and 11 other countries have demanded that Yemen's Houthi rebels stop attacking military and commercial ships in the Red Sea and warned of the consequences, Trend reports.
"We call for an immediate end to the unlawful attacks and the release of the illegally detained ships and crews. The Houthis will be held accountable if they continue to threaten human life, the global economy and the free flow of trade along the region's critical waterways," US, Australia , Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are mentioned in a joint statement published on the website of the White House.
"Attacks on ships, including commercial ones, using drones, small boats and missiles pose a direct threat to freedom of navigation," the document added.
These events caused a number of groups in the Middle East to intensify their attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria. Yemen's Houthi rebels, in turn, have started firing at ships in the Red Sea.