Red Sea attacks: US, UK forces shoot down 21 Houthi drones and missiles launched from Yemen
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels carried out one of their largest missile and drone attacks to date in the Red Sea
- Iran-backed militants have stepped up attacks on commercial ships in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza
American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles Tuesday that were launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels toward international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the US military said.
The attack came a week after 12 nations led by the United States warned the Houthis of consequences unless they immediately halted firing on commercial vessels – strikes the rebels say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.
“Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs …, anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
The drones and missiles were downed by a combination of F/A-18 warplanes operating from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and one British and three American destroyers, CENTCOM said, adding that there were no injuries or damage reported.
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Yemen’s Houthi fighters behind Red Sea attacks threaten to disrupt global trade
The episode represented the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November 19, CENTCOM added. About 50 merchant vessels were in the region of the attacks, CNBC reported, citing US officials it didn’t identify.
The United States set up a multinational naval task force last month to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 per cent of global trade.
