Current:Home > BackSri Lanka to join US-led naval operations against Houthi rebels in Red Sea-LoTradeCoin
Sri Lanka to join US-led naval operations against Houthi rebels in Red Sea
View Date:2024-12-23 20:16:58
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Debt-ridden Sri Lanka ’s navy is preparing to join a U.S.-led operation to protect merchant vessels sailing in the Red Sea against attacks by Houthi rebels, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman said on Tuesday.
The attacks by Houthi rebels have targeted commercial shipping vessels transiting through the critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links markets in Asia and Europe following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent war against the militant group in Gaza.
The U.S. and its allies launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect ship traffic, and warships from the U.S., France, and the U.K. are patrolling the area.
No date has been set for sending the Sri Lankan ships and the area they will patrol has not been finalized, said navy spokesman Capt. Gayan Wickramasuriya.
The decision to send the ships drew criticism from opposition lawmakers in the island nation. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa blamed the government for spending LKR 250 million ($777,000) to send ships to fight Houthi rebels in the Red Sea when Sri Lankans are experiencing severe economic hardships at home.
State Minister of Defense Pramitha Tennakoon defended the move, saying the government wants to fulfill its “global responsibilities” and noting that “Sri Lanka is against any form of terrorism.”
He added that Sri Lanka would incur no additional costs by joining the operations, as the country’s ships are already patrolling its vast maritime area in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka is struggling to get through the worst economic crisis in its history. The country declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than $83 billion in debt — more than half of it to foreign creditors. Its economy was plunged into crisis, with severe shortages of food, fuel and other necessities.
Strident public protests led to the ouster of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The IMF agreed in March last year to a $2.9-billion bailout package.
Sri Lanka hopes to restructure $17 billion of its tens of billions of outstanding debt.
Over the past year, severe shortages of essentials like food, fuel and medicine have largely abated, and authorities have restored power supplies. But public dissatisfaction has grown over the government’s efforts to increase revenues by raising electricity bills and imposing heavy new income taxes on professionals and businesses.
Last week, the government increased the rate of the valued added tax and extended it to cover many essential items, including cooking gas, fuel, medicine and others.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- 'Gladiator 2' review: Yes, we are entertained again by outrageous sequel
- 2024 Super Bowl is set, with the Kansas City Chiefs to face the San Francisco 49ers
- Joni Mitchell will perform at 2024 Grammys, Academy announces
- Rise and shine: Japanese moon probe back to work after sun reaches its solar panels
- Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
- Do you you know where your Sriracha's peppers come from? Someone is secretly buying jalapeños
- Under bombing in eastern Ukraine and disabled by illness, an unknown painter awaits his fate
- UK fines HSBC bank for not going far enough to protect deposits in case it collapsed
- Colts' Kenny Moore II ridicules team's effort in loss to Bills
- Gambling busts at Iowa State were the result of improper searches, athletes’ attorneys contend
Ranking
- Mike Williams Instagram post: Steelers' WR shades Aaron Rodgers 'red line' comments
- Jamie Dornan recalls going into hiding over negative 'Fifty Shades of Grey' reviews
- Connecticut still No. 1, but top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll is shuffled
- COP28 Left a Vacuum California Leaders Aim to Fill
- Veterans Day restaurant deals 2024: More than 80 discounts, including free meals
- Indonesian police arrest 3 Mexicans after a Turkish tourist is wounded in an armed robbery in Bali
- Kourtney Kardashian posts first look at new baby: See the photo
- 3 American service members killed and dozens injured in drone attack on base in Jordan, U.S. says
Recommendation
-
Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024
-
Look what the Chiefs made airlines do: New flight numbers offered for Super Bowl
-
Brazil, facing calls for reparations, wrangles with its painful legacy of slavery
-
US Navy crisis: Standard drops to allow recruits without high school diplomas
-
Maine elections chief who drew Trump’s ire narrates House tabulations in livestream
-
French police asked for extra pay during Paris Olympics. They will get bonuses of up to $2,000
-
Good luck charm? A Chiefs flag is buried below Super Bowl host Allegiant Stadium in Vegas
-
Venezuelan opposition candidate blocked by court calls it ‘judicial criminality,’ won’t abandon race