2024-01-10 05:02:12
American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening as part of a “complex” attack, the US military said.
“The Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex Iranian-designed attack in the southern Red Sea using drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile,” the US military command said in the Middle East (Centcom).
The drones and missiles were shot down by combat aircraft deployed from the US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, three US destroyers and a British warship, the HMS Diamond, Centcom said in a statement. assuring that there had been “no damage or injuries” in these attacks.
International forces deployed in the Red Sea have responded to a new security incident off the coast of northern Yemen, a region controlled by Houthi rebels, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said earlier.
“UKTMO has received information regarding an incident approximately 50 nautical miles west of Hodeida (Yemeni port) involving the presence of drones. Coalition forces intervened,” the British agency indicated on X, recommending ships to travel “with caution” in the Red Sea.
Since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, have increased attacks in the Red Sea in order to slow down international maritime traffic there, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
Israel’s first ally, the United States, set up an international coalition in December to protect maritime traffic from Houthi attacks, in this strategic zone where 12% of world trade passes.
Moreover, the British Defense Minister, Grant Shapps, announced Tuesday evening that another frigate, the HMS Richmond, was on its way to the Red Sea to counter the “attacks” of the Houthis.
Tuesday evening’s attack was the 26th targeting commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea since mid-January, Centcom said.
And it comes while the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is in Israel as part of a regional tour aimed, among other things, at preventing the Israel/Hamas war from becoming further regionalized.
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