British and American forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening, in what the British government on Wednesday called the Yemeni rebels’ “largest attack” to date.
“Overnight,” the British ship HMS Diamond along with American warships “successfully repelled the largest attack to date in the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthis,” wrote minister Grant Shapps on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“The Diamond foiled several drone attacks in its direction and that of merchant ships in the area,” added the minister, specifying that there had been no injuries to the crew or damage caused to the British ship. .
The American army had indicated a few hours earlier that 18 drones and 3 missiles fired by the Houthis had been shot down, as part of a “complex” attack.
This new attack came while the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is in Israel as part of a regional tour aimed, among other things, at preventing the Israel/Hamas war from spreading.
“The Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex Iranian-designed attack in the southern Red Sea using drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile,” the US military command said in the Middle East (CENTCOM).
26th attack
Tuesday evening’s attack is the 26e targeting commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea since mid-January, according to CENTCOM.
The drones and missiles were shot down by fighter jets deployed from the US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, three US destroyers and a British warship, the HMS Diamond, CENTCOM said in a statement.
On Tuesday evening, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said it had received “information about an incident approximately 50 nautical miles west of Hodeida (Yemeni port) involving the presence of drones”. The British agency then recommended that ships travel “with caution” in the Red Sea.
“The United Kingdom and its allies have already made it clear that these illegal attacks (by the Houthis) are unacceptable and that if they continue, the Houthis will suffer the consequences,” said Grant Shapps on X.
“We will take the necessary measures to protect innocent lives and the global economy,” he added.
Since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, have increased attacks in the Red Sea in order to slow down international maritime traffic there, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas after its attack of unprecedented scale on Israeli soil, in which 1,140 people, mainly civilians, were killed, according to an AFP count based on the Israeli toll. The incessant Israeli shelling has left more than 23,210 dead in Gaza, mostly women, children and adolescents, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Israel’s first ally, the United States, set up an international coalition in December to protect maritime traffic from Houthi attacks, in this strategic zone where 12% of world trade passes.
The British Defense Minister announced Tuesday evening that another frigate, the HMS Richmond, was on its way to the Red Sea to counter “attacks” by the Houthis.