US and allied forces shot down 15 drones fired by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, US Middle East Command (Centcom) said on Saturday.
It was one of the largest attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels since they began a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships transiting the Red Sea, vital for global trade, in November. in a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where Israel has been at war against the Islamist movement Hamas since October 7.
The “large-scale”
attack
by Yemeni rebels occurred before dawn in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Centcom said.
Centcom and coalition forces assessed that the drones posed
“an imminent threat to merchant ships, the US Navy and coalition ships in the region”
, according to the same source.
Protecting freedom of navigation
As a result,
“US Navy ships and aircraft, along with several Coalition Navy ships and aircraft, shot down 15”
of the drones fired by the Houthis, Centcom added in a post on the social network. X.
“These initiatives are taken to protect freedom of navigation and to make international waters safer
,” he stressed.
On January 9, American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by Yemeni rebels towards ships in the Red Sea, the American military said at the time.
In December, the United States announced a maritime security initiative aimed at protecting ships in the Red Sea against attacks by the Houthis, who forced commercial ships to turn away from this route through which 12% of the world normally passes. International trade.
Since January, the United States and the United Kingdom have also launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, but the rebels have continued their attacks.