U.S. strikes Houthi, Iranian drones
The USS Carney shoots down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — American forces carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the US military said Wednesday.
A US warship also shot down an anti-ship missile fired by the Houthis and later downed three Iranian drones, Central Command said.
While the US has recently launched strikes on the Houthis and other Tehran-supported groups in the region, both it and Iran have sought to avoid a direct confrontation, and the downing of three Iranian drones could heighten tensions.
Early on Thursday local time, US forces targeted a “Houthi UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVs” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
CENTCOM earlier announced that the USS Carney had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis, and then downed three Iranian drones less than an hour later.
It did not specify if the drones shot down by the naval destroyer were designed for attack or surveillance.
American forces also destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile on Wednesday that CENTCOM said posed an imminent threat to “US aircraft” — a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international shipping.
It did not identify the type of aircraft that were threatened or the exact location of the strike, only saying that it took place in “Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”
The Houthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.
US and United Kingdom forces have responded with strikes on the Houthis, who have since declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.
The rebels said Wednesday that they targeted an American merchant ship bound for Israel with “several appropriate naval missiles that directly hit the vessel.”
Maritime security firm Ambrey said a commercial vessel was reportedly targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, and that the ship reported an explosion on its starboard side, but did not mention its nationality.