An American destroyer intercepted four drones fired by Houthi militants into the busy shipping lanes of the Red Sea, during a chaotic evening of strikes that hit at least one foreign-owned oil tanker.
In a statement issued Sunday, U.S. Central Command said its navy had “shot down four unmanned aerial drones originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were inbound to the USS Laboon” the day before.
The American destroyer had been patrolling the area as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, the Washington-led mission to prevent violence spilling over into the strategic waterway.
Following the incident, around 8 p.m. local time Saturday, two civilian ships sounded the alarm that they were under attack. The Blaamanen, a Norwegian-flagged vessel carrying a quarter of a million tons of sunflower oil, reported it had narrowly avoided an attack drone, while Indian-flagged crude oil tanker Saibaba confirmed it had taken a direct hit.
Close to the Suez Canal which links Europe to Asia, more than 10 percent of global trade passes through the Red Sea, with around 17,000 ships a year crossing between the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea.
Washington has said intelligence reveals Iran is “deeply involved” in planning attacks on vessels, working closely with Yemen’s Houthi rebels to cause a crisis that experts fear is already threatening the world economy. Houthi forces say they are targeting vessels with links to Israel in retaliation for its war in Gaza.
In his first interview since being appointed as U.K. foreign secretary, former British prime minister David Cameron, told The Telegraph on Friday that the West must send “an incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated” to Tehran. Along with France, Italy and Spain, the U.K. is one of a handful of countries joining forces with the U.S. as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.
