From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Drones explode near ships off Yemen, UK office reports
Ships near the Red Sea’s Bab al Mandeb Strait were attacked by drones, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations office reports.
No injuries were reported in the two incidents, which occurred within half an hour of each other some 50 miles off the coast of Yemen.
In the first incident, an unmanned aircraft exploded near a vessel, which did not suffer any damage.
UKMTO WARNING 019/DEC/2023https://t.co/Z0vTdolDwv#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/9M4pYwOKD0
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 23, 2023
Some 20 minutes after that, a drone buzzed a vessel and then blew up some 1.5 miles away from it.
UKMTO NOTICE 020/DEC/2023 UPDATE 001 https://t.co/Z0vTdolDwv#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/r1fNOWHIHD
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 23, 2023
There is no immediate word on the identities of the vessels.
Ships have been repeatedly attacked in the area by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who seek to choke the vital shipping lane in response to Israel’s war in Gaza
