THE United Nations security council on Tuesday authorised continued reporting on attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi-led government, which has defied its previous demands to immediately halt the attacks.

The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining because of attacks against Yemen in violation of its sovereignty, a clear reference to US bombing raids against the Houthis who control most of northern Yemen.

The Trump administration has carried out strikes because of the group’s attacks on Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route.

The resolution, co-sponsored by the US and Greece, extends the requirement for monthly reports to the security council about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea until January 15 2026.

Acting US ambassador Dorothy Shea cited the two latest attacks by the Yemenis against civilian cargo vessels, the MV Magic Seas and the MV Eternity C, which caused both vessels to sink and at least three deaths.

She said: “The US strongly condemns these unprovoked terrorist attacks, which demonstrate the threat that the Houthis pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security.”

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said that Moscow abstained because language in the previous resolution demanding a halt to Yemeni attacks was arbitrarily interpreted to justify “the use of force affecting the territory of the sovereign state of Yemen.”

China’s deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang said that China abstained because “certain countries took military action against Yemen, which seriously impacted the Yemeni peace process and exacerbated tensions in the Red Sea.”

He said that the tensions in the Red Sea were “a major manifestation of the spillover from the Gaza conflict.”

The Yemenis have been launching missile and drone attacks against US and Israel-linked vessels in the region in an effort to end Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.