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Members of the Houthi militia: The militant Islamist group has been attacking ships in the Red Sea for weeks.
Photo: Yahya Arhab / EPA
The US military, together with its allies in the Middle East, repelled a large-scale drone attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The attack early Saturday morning local time directly threatened merchant ships as well as ships of the US Navy and other members of the coalition, said the responsible regional command Centcom on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
The coalition forces shot down a total of 15 Houthi combat drones, it said.
The incident occurred between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time.
According to their own statements, the US armed forces had already carried out a self-defense strike against the Houthi militia in Yemen on Friday morning around 9:50 a.m.
The target was the movement's two truck-mounted anti-ship missiles, the regional command also announced on X on Saturday morning.
The militia also fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen at the “MV Propel Fortune” in the Gulf of Aden on Friday afternoon, it said.
The missiles missed the freighter flying the Singapore flag.
No people are said to have been injured and the ship was not damaged.
The explosions are said to have occurred about 50 nautical miles southeast of the port city of Aden.
The city is controlled by the Yemeni government, which is fighting against the pro-Iranian Houthi militia.
Houthis claim to have fired around 40 drones
The Houthis said they attacked “a number of US destroyers.”
Military spokesman Jahja Sarea said on television on Saturday that 37 drones had been fired at the warships.
In addition, the US merchant ship was fired upon.
The movement did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks.
Sarea's statement was postponed on Friday evening due to "urgent military developments in the field of military operations," the militia-controlled Saba news agency reported.
By shelling ships in the Red Sea, the militant Islamist Houthis want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which followed the attack by the Islamist Hamas in Israel on October 7th (
read everything you need to know about the Israel-Gaza war here
) .
Given the dangers, large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe.
This is now having a significant impact on the global economy.
The USA, Great Britain and their allies therefore repeatedly attack targets of the Houthi militias in Yemen.
The coalition's stated goal is to weaken the military capabilities of the militant Islamist Houthis and thus protect the important shipping route.
alw/AFP/dpa