Ships were threatened

US military shoots down eleven Houthi drones off Yemen

(Bild: AP)

The US military has reportedly shot down eleven drones belonging to the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi militia. As the responsible US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, the drones were shot down during the course of Wednesday morning.

The drones posed an "imminent threat" to US ships, its partners and merchant vessels in the region, according to the post on X (see below). The Houthi militia had previously claimed to have targeted two Israeli ships, a US merchant ship and a US warship.

The Shiite Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November in order to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to their own statements.

The Houthis see themselves as part of the "axis of resistance" directed against Israel and supported by Iran, which includes Hamas and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The US and the UK responded with attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen in order to prevent further attacks on cargo ships.

In addition, warships from two international coalitions are attempting to secure shipping traffic along the Yemeni coast.