Why in news
Suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthis targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden, while a separate attack claimed by Iraqi militants targeted the Israeli port city of Eilat.
The attacks follow the departure of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower after an eight-month deployment in which it led the American response to the Houthi assaults.
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden, an arm of the Indian Ocean is situated between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in Africa.
It is bounded to the south by Somalia and the Socotra Islands, north by Yemen, east by the Arabian Sea, and west by Djibouti.
The gulf – roughly 900 kilometers long and 500 kilometers wide is an important waterway for transporting Persian Gulf oil.
The gulf connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea via the Strait of Bab el Mandeb. It forms an essential oil transport route between Europe and the Far East.
Its marine life is rich in quantity and variety. Its coastline lacks large-scale fishing facilities but supports many fishing towns, as well as the major ports Aden and Djibouti.
In recent years, the gulf has received a lot of attention due to piracy, terrorism and refugee smuggling.
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