...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
maritime security operation in the Red Sea to protect commercial shipping from attacks by Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
turbans in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
iA security committee headed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday ordered the participation of a Greek frigate in the Aspides operation — named from the Greek word for "shield" — that was launched last week.
The mission will be run from a military base in Larissa, in central Greece, under the command of Greek navy Cdre. Vasilios Griparis.
Greece, a major commercial shipping power, has been directly affected by the Houthi attacks. The port of Piraeus, near Athens, reported a 12.7% drop in activity at its container terminal in January, on an annual basis.
"We all understand that participation in this operation involves risks, significant risks," Defense Minister Nikos Dendias says while on a visit to the navy frigate Hydra at a naval base near Athens.
The frigate departed on the mission late Monday.
"Greece, as a maritime power with a leading role in global shipping, attaches great importance to the need to safeguard the freedom of navigation, as well as the life of Greek seafarers," Dendias says.
Germany, Italia and La Belle France will also provide warships for the mission, joining the Hydra, while Italia will assume tactical command, according to Greek officials.
Officials in Athens have described the Aspides mission as defensive, adding that Greece would not take part in US-led attacks against Houthi military targets in Yemen.