Pentagon announces new Red Sea international mission to counter escalating Houthi attacks on ships

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international mission to bolster Red Sea maritime security amid Houthi attacks.

The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed. The U.S. Central Command reported two more attacks on commercial vessels on Monday. A strike by an attack drone and a ballistic missile hit a tanker off Yemen at roughly the same time a cargo ship reported an explosive detonating in the water near them, the U.S. military said. Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace. 

"This is an international challenge that demands collective action," Austin said, issuing a statement early Tuesday while in Bahrain. "Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity."

Austin added that the recent Houthi aggression "threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners, and violates international law."