the United States claims to have destroyed ten Houthi drones and three other Iranian ones

The American army announced, Wednesday January 31, a series of military operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen who threaten international trade in the Red Sea. The American military Command in the Middle East (Centcom) claimed to have destroyed more than ten attack drones, missiles as well as a command post during the day.

Around 8:30 p.m. (local hour), “Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched an anti-ship ballistic missile from areas they control in Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden. The missile was shot down by theUSS Carney“, Centcom Middle East (Centcom) said in a statement. A hour later, this same destroyer “downed three Iranian drones” who were located “near”without specifying whether these devices were armed or not.

In the evening, the American command again announced that American strikes had destroyed ten attack drones and a command post of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which “posed an imminent threat to U.S. merchant ships and military vessels in the region”.

Traffic down in the Red Sea

In recent weeks, these rebels close to Iran who control a large part of Yemen have mainly been talked about for attacks targeting merchant or warships in the Red Sea, against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They assured Wednesday that they had targeted an American building, theUSS Gravely. And the US military claimed to have destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile ready to be fired.

These attacks have a significant impact on international trade. The United States, which placed the Houthi rebels on an entity list “terrorists”set up a coalition to “protect” the region. Maritime transport of containers through the Red Sea has fallen by almost 30% over one year, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund. (PDF).