2024-01-15T09:38:52+00:00
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/ The American Bloomberg Agency reported that Qatar “temporarily stopped” transporting liquefied natural gas through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, amid a military escalation in the Red Sea region.
According to ship tracking data collected by Bloomberg, at least 5 liquefied natural gas tankers operated by Qatar have stopped on their way to the vital waterway at the southern end of the Red Sea since Friday.
Three tankers stopped off the coast of Oman, while one stopped in the Red Sea, and another tanker stopped in the Mediterranean Sea near the Suez Canal, according to what was published by the “Al Hurra” website.
The Qatari authorities did not issue a comment regarding its operations related to transporting liquefied natural gas to its customers.
The Gulf state – one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas – was one of a few gas suppliers continuing to use the Red Sea and Suez Canal to send fuel to Europe.
Qatar’s reluctance to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait highlights the significant increase in risks after the attacks launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, loyal to Iran, on commercial ships, and the American-British response of strikes targeting their sites.
The Houthi attacks prompted Western countries, led by the United States and Britain, to deploy battleships in the Red Sea. Washington formed an international maritime coalition to protect navigation in the strategic region through which 12 percent of global trade passes.
At dawn on Monday, the US military command in the Middle East (Centcom) announced that, on Sunday afternoon, it shot down a cruise missile launched from an area under the control of the Houthis in Yemen, towards an American destroyer in the southern Red Sea, without causing damage or injuries.
The joint military forces – which include the US and British navies – had advised commercial ships to stay away from the danger zone in the southern Red Sea, after air strikes on the Iranian-backed Yemeni armed group.
At dawn on Friday, American and British forces launched dozens of raids on Houthi military sites in the capital, Sanaa, and the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah, and Saada.
The Houthis announced that the strikes led to the death of 5 members of their ranks. At dawn on Saturday, the United States again targeted an air base in Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.
The US military said it struck a “radar site in Yemen.”
The American and British strikes came in response to attacks carried out by the Houthis in recent weeks, targeting commercial ships they suspected of being linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports, near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
This comes within the framework of the Houthis’ support for the Hamas movement, which has been waging a war against Israel since October 7, when its militants attacked towns and regions around the Gaza Strip.