One US Navy Arleight-Burke Destroyer has been shooting down Houthi drones in Red Sea aimed at Israel and Israeli merchant ships….
A U.S. Navy destroyer shot down three drones during a sustained attack in the Red Sea on Sunday, the Pentagon said, in what could signal another escalation in the tit-for-tat attacks between the American military and Iranian-backed militants.
A Pentagon official said the U.S.S. Carney shot down the drones as several commercial ships nearby came under fire as part of an attack that began at 9:15 a.m. and lasted for several hours on Sunday. The destroyer intercepted three drones during the attack, United States Central Command said in a statement, including one that was headed in the direction of the Carney. The Pentagon said there were no injuries onboard the destroyer and that the ship was not damaged.
In the statement, Central Command said the attacks originated from areas in Yemen that are controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia. Since the Oct. 7 incursion into Israel led by Hamas, the Houthis based in Yemen have launched a series of attacks — including with drones and missiles — on Israeli and American targets in the Red Sea.
A Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement on Sunday that the militia had targeted two Israeli ships in the area of the Bab al-Mandeb strait off southern Yemen, but did not mention the American naval vessel. The group fired a missile at one ship and targeted a second with a drone, he said, adding that the Houthis would continue to prevent Israeli ships from sailing in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until Israel’s military “stops its aggression” in Gaza.
In October, the Carney shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen that the Pentagon said might have been headed toward Israel…..
image…The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64)…U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Xavier Jimenez