Germany has summoned China’s ambassador to protest after a Chinese warship used a laser against a German surveillance aircraft operating in the Red Sea, Berlin said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred earlier this month during an EU maritime security mission known as Aspides, which is aimed at protecting civilian shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Germany’s Defence Ministry said the aircraft was targeted “without any reason or prior contact” while on patrol.
A spokesperson for the ministry said the laser posed a risk to personnel and equipment, prompting the mission to be aborted as a precaution. The aircraft landed safely at a base in Djibouti and has since resumed operations.
The German Foreign Office described the incident as “entirely unacceptable”, adding in a post on X that it endangered German personnel and disrupted a lawful international mission.
The Chinese government has not publicly commented on the incident.
The EU’s Aspides mission is focused solely on the defence of civilian vessels and does not engage in offensive military operations. The Red Sea has become a flashpoint due to repeated attacks by Houthi rebels, who continue to target shipping lanes in the region.
On Tuesday, Yemeni Houthi forces targeted a Liberian-flagged cargo vessel, days after claiming to have sunk another commercial ship, raising fears of further escalation in one of the world’s most critical maritime routes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Ir...
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added tha...
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for greater unity across the Islamic world, saying Türkiye is seeking to strengthen allianc...
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Iran.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
The Israeli-U.S. invasion of Iran, which began on 28 February, entered its seventh month on Friday, as Tehran wrapped up a week of high-level visits the region, with officials from Pakistan, Oman and Qatar helping to negotiate a way out of the current stalemate in the conflict.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
The U.S. is to take control of a fifth of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, President Donald Trump announced on Friday. He said that Washington had secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s reserves through a partnership with private business.
Walmart has reached a settlement with the U.S. government over allegations that its pharmacies unlawfully dispensed opioid prescriptions, helping fuel the country's opioid epidemic.
Greenland’s opposition parties have called for Denmark to be held accountable before the International Court of Justice over a decades-long campaign in which women and girls were fitted with contraceptive devices, often without their consent.
Icelanders will vote on Saturday, 29 August, on whether to resume negotiations with the European Union, in a referendum that could reopen the country’s long-debated membership question.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment