A Houthi fighter holds up a pistol in the cargo area of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. (Reuters)
Jan 10, 2024. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
US and UK
forces have shot down more than 20 drones and missiles over the Red Sea
launched by Yemen’s Houthis, in what London branded Wednesday the “largest
attack” yet by the Iran-backed militia.
The Western allies’ warships and planes took out 18 drones and three missiles in their latest Red Sea military intervention on Tuesday, the US military said.
HMS Diamond, a British destroyer, intervened with “her guns and Sea Viper missiles” after the drones were “heading for her and commercial shipping in the area,” UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.
It comes a week after 12 nations led by the United States warned the Houthis of
consequences unless they immediately halted firing on commercial vessels in the
busy international shipping corridor.
The Houthis say they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels in support of
Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.
“Overnight, HMS Diamond, along with US warships, successfully repelled the
largest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date,” Shapps
said in a statement.
“The UK alongside allies have previously made clear that these illegal attacks
are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the
consequences.”
“We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global
economy,” he vowed.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the Houthis had launched “a complex
attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs,” as well as firing anti-ship
cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas
of Yemen.
They were downed by a combination of F/A-18 warplanes, operating from the USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, three American destroyers and the
British naval vessel, CENTCOM said.
Fears
The
incident is the latest since the US set up a multinational naval task force
last month to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which are
endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade.
CENTCOM said US forces shot down a drone launched from Yemen over the weekend,
while Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said the Houthis had launched an
explosives-laden sea drone into shipping lanes last week - the first time they
had used such a weapon in the current conflict.
The Houthis - who control much of Yemen - are part of the “axis of resistance”
of groups arrayed against Israel.
The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian
militant group Hamas carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on
October 7 that killed about 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on
Israeli figures.
Following the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, which
has carried out a relentless campaign in Gaza that has killed at least 23,210
people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Those deaths have sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an
impetus for attacks by armed groups across the region that are opposed to
Israel.
US forces in Iraq and Syria have also repeatedly come under fire from drone and
rocket attacks that Washington says are being carried out by Iran-backed armed
groups.
Last week, the United States carried out a strike in Baghdad that killed a
pro-Iran commander who it said was involved in attacks on American forces - a
move that infuriated the Iraqi government.
The violence in Iraq and Syria and the continued attacks by the Houthis have
raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran - a
worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately seeking to avoid.
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