The United States and its allies said they shot down 15 drones fired by Yemen’s Huthis into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, in one of the Iran-backed rebels’ largest attacks.
Shortly afterward, the rebels claimed an attack, saying they had fired missiles at an “American” commercial ship and launched drones at US warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
In November, the Huthis launched a campaign of drone and missile strikes against vessels in the Red Sea, an area vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the “large-scale” Huthi attack occurred before dawn in the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
CENTCOM and coalition forces determined that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region”.
It added, in a post on social media platform X that “US Navy vessels and aircraft along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft shot down 15” of the drones.
“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.”
Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, also on X, said the rebels had carried out two separate attacks.
The first targeted the commercial vessel Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, he said, calling it an “American” ship.
Vessel tracking websites describe the bulk carrier as Singapore-flagged but do not report its current position.
