US-led coalition downs 15 Houthi drones off Yemen

Shortly after, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a large-scale attack, claiming to have fired missiles at an “American” commercial ship.

American and allied forces shot down 15 drones fired by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US Middle East Military Command (Centcom) announced on Saturday (March 9). .

Shortly after, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a large-scale attack, saying they fired missiles at a commercial ship “American” and launched drones at US warships in “The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden”.

It was one of the biggest attacks by Yemeni rebels since they began a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships transiting the Red Sea, vital for global trade, in November in a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where Israel has been at war against the Islamist movement Hamas since October 7.

Four drones shot down by France

The coalition forces and the US military command considered that the drones constituted “an imminent threat to merchant ships, US Navy and coalition ships in the region”Centcom said.

Consequently“U.S. Navy ships and aircraft, along with several Coalition Navy ships and aircraft, shot down 15” drones fired by the Houthis, Centcom added in a message published on the social network X.

Four of these drones were shot down by France, one of the coalition allies, according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. A multi-mission frigate patrolling the Gulf of Aden detected “four combat drones advancing towards it”, and they were “destroyed in self-defense by the frigate and French fighters”said the ministry in a press release.