U.S. officials said Wednesday a U.S. Navy warship intercepted a drone that was movingtoward the ship as it sailed in the southern Red Sea.
The USS Thomas Hudner, a naval destroyer, was sailing toward the Bab-el-Mandeb straitwhen it shot down the drone that was fired from Yemen. No casualties or damage were reported.
One of the U.S. officials said the drone was likely targeting the ship, but the official did not directly say the Iran-backed Houthis were responsible for firing the unmanned aircraft.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said on social media that the group owned the drone and that it "will reserve the right to respond to the destruction of its drone."
Last week, the Houthi group claimed responsibility for shooting down a U.S. drone over the Red Sea with the help of an Iranian air defense Khordad-3 System, which is specialized for hunting drones, and most of their technology is taken from Russian defense systems, sources told Sheba Intelligence.
On Tuesday, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said the U.S. obstructed a peace agreement with the Saudi-led Arab coalition, indicating that the Americans pressurized his group to stop being involved in the Gaza-Israel war. He said he rejected the American demands and vowed to target ships operating in the Red Sea, particularly those near Bab Al-Mandab.
Yesterday’s American interception of a Yemeni drone was not the first. The USS Carney shot down drones and missiles coming from Yemen on Oct. 19. The missiles and drones were believed to be heading toward Israel.
