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A US military MQ-9 drone
Photo: William Rio Rosado / US Airforce / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
Escalation in installments: According to the US Department of Defense, an American MQ-9 military drone was shot down off the Yemeni coast in the Red Sea. According to initial findings, the drone was hit by a missile from the militant Islamist Houthi militia on Monday, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Tuesday (local time) in Washington. The Houthis had already shot down a US military MQ-9 drone in November. When asked, Singh said there was an increase in attacks by the Houthi militia on US forces and merchant shipping over the weekend.
The Houthi militia in Yemen repeatedly targets ships in the Red Sea in the wake of the Gaza war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. The Iranian-backed militia says it is acting in solidarity with Hamas and is directing its attacks off the Yemeni coast on freighters with alleged Israeli connections. The Red Sea is considered one of the most important shipping routes for world trade because it connects the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal in Egypt. The USA and Great Britain have recently attacked Houthi targets in Yemen.
On Tuesday night, two French frigates shot down two drones in the Red Sea after they had previously registered a variety of drone attacks from the direction of Yemen. "These actions contribute to maritime security, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Hormuz, and support the defense of freedom of navigation," said the French Defense Ministry in Paris. The EU military operation decided on Monday to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea pursues the same goal.
Germany has sent the frigate “Hessen” to the region to support this operation. France has been present there since December 8th with the frigate “Languedoc”, which received support from the frigate “Alsace” on January 20th.
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