Kenya on Wednesday, January 24, issued a joint statement together with the United States Government and other nations regarding Houthi attacks against vessels transiting the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.
The nations noted that the attacks were a threat to all countries that rely on international shipping.
“We condemn these attacks and demand an end to them. We also underscore that those who supply the Houthis with the weapons to conduct these attacks are violating UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law.,” the statement read in part.
The over 20 nations termed the attacks as reckless and deserved a decisive response.
In the statement, the nations stated that in response to the Houthi attacks, the armed forces of the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, continued with strikes against eight targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
In defence of the strikes, the US and other nations remarked that they were done under the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence.
"These strikes were designed to disrupt and degrade the capability of the Houthis to continue their attacks on global trade and innocent mariners from around the world while avoiding escalation," the joint statement explained.
Houthi rebels have launched over 30 attacks on ships operating in the Red Sea since mid-November which has disrupted the movement of goods in the busy sea channel.
As such, the effects of the attacks have been felt worldwide with rising costs of fuel prices and agricultural produce.
"International oil prices increased during the week ending January 18, largely due to elevated risk of escalation of the Middle East crisis," the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) commented on the issue during a weekly bulletin released on January 19.
The statement was signed by the Governments of Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The unity of the nations in releasing the statement was seen as a shared resolve to uphold navigational rights and freedoms, and to defend the lives of mariners from illegal and unjustifiable attacks.
