US-led Red Sea coalition destroys Houthi drone, boat

The US-led naval coalition in the Red Sea has destroyed a Houthi drone and a remote-controlled, explosive-laden boat targeting merchant vessels off the Yemen coast.

US Central Command said early on Thursday that its forces had destroyed a remote-controlled boat, while an aircraft from the US-led coalition shot down a drone launched by the Yemeni militia on Wednesday at international commercial and naval ships.

“It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM said.

The EU’s Red Sea naval mission said on Wednesday that a French Navy helicopter shot down a Houthi drone flying over the southern Red Sea near commercial vessels. The Houthis have yet to claim responsibility for launching the drone or boat.

Since November, the militia has launched hundreds of missiles, drones, and remote-controlled boats against foreign commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden, claiming to be acting in support of Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Houthis face growing condemnation over their deadly house destruction in Al-Bayda.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government urged the world, including the UN and other international bodies, on Thursday to designate the militia as terrorists, and to condemn Houthi human rights violations, such as the recent demolition of homes in Radaa, Al-Bayda, which left 35 civilians injured or dead.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, the UN secretary-general, and international delegates at the UN, the Yemeni government requested the UN take “concrete and strict measures” against the Houthis to put an end to their abuses in Yemen.