(Washington) The US military announced Wednesday that it had shot down four drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeting a US warship in the Red Sea.
The US military’s Middle East Command (Centcom) said in a statement published on [heure de l’Est] Tuesday). No injuries or damage were reported, according to the same source.
“These weapons were determined to present an imminent threat to U.S. merchant ships and naval vessels in the region,” the statement added.
“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer” for these same vessels, explains the same source.
In November, the Iran-backed Houthis began a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea, a key region for global trade, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel is at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
They then expanded their targets to ships associated with the United States and the United Kingdom, after the strikes carried out by these two countries against their positions in Yemen.