PARIS (Reuters) – French naval forces “accompany” ships “under the French flag or of French interest” throughout their crossing of the Red Sea, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, commander for the area, said on Thursday.
The navy’s current mandate, he added, does not include directly striking Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who for weeks have been disrupting global trade by attacking ships passing through the Bab el Mandeb Strait. southern end of the Red Sea, in response, they say, to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Rear Admiral Slaars also clarified during a briefing with journalists that France was working closely with the “Prosperity Guardian” mission led by the Americans in the region, through exchanges of information. and coordinated patrols, but the command of French forces remains entirely under the control of Paris, he said.
The officer, who also commands the European EMASoH maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz, estimated that there was still a need to increase military capabilities in the region but that France did not intend to deploy more. For now.
According to Emmanuel Slaars, international military operations are producing results and 80% of container ships continue to pass through the Bab el Mandeb Strait.
(Reporting by John Irish, Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version, editing by Blandine Hénault)
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