US, French, and British forces downed dozens of drones in the Red Sea on Saturday after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis targeted bulk carrier Propel Fortune and US destroyers in the region, the US military said in a statement.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the US military and coalition forces had downed at least 28 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Red Sea in the early hours of Saturday. “No US or Coalition Navy vessels were damaged in the attack and there were also no reports by commercial ships of damage,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Earlier on Saturday, CENTCOM said the military was responding to a large-scale attack on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. (0100-0330 GMT).
A French warship and fighter jets also shot down four combat drones that were advancing towards naval vessels belonging to the European Aspides mission in the region, a French army statement said. “This defensive action directly contributed to the protection of the cargo ship True Confidence, under the Barbados flag, which was struck on March 6 and is being towed, as well as other commercial vessels transiting in the area,” it said.
The Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Saturday they had targeted the cargo vessel and “a number of US war destroyers at the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with 37 drones”.
The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November aince the start of Israel-Hmas war.
