US says it shot down 3 Houthi attack drones, destroyed 7 missiles targeting Red Sea
CENTCOM says the anti-ship cruise missiles were located on land and strike was in self-defense
American forces shot down three attack drones near commercial ships in the Red Sea on Friday and destroyed seven anti-ship cruise missiles positioned on land, the US military said.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting shipping for months and their attacks have persisted despite repeated American and British strikes aimed at degrading the rebels’ ability to threaten a vital global trade route.
Early on Friday, US forces “shot down three Houthi one-way attack [drones] near several commercial ships operating in the Red Sea. There was no damage to any ships,” the Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.
In a statement later in the day, CENTCOM said US forces destroyed “seven Iranian-backed Houthi mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch towards the Red Sea.”
It said those strikes, carried out between 12:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Sana’a time, were made in self-defense.
“CENTCOM forces identified these missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the US Navy ships in the region,” it said in a statement.
The day prior, American forces struck four Houthi drones as well as two anti-ship cruise missiles, CENTCOM said, adding that the weapons “were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea.”
The Houthis began attacking Red Sea shipping in November, a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war triggered by the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
The group has also fired ballistic missiles and drones at the southern Israel city of Eilat.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
