Yemen Monitor/Aden /Private:
The US military announced on early Tuesday that it had destroyed several Houthi drones launched over the Gulf of Aden saying that they also targeted other Houthi weapons in Houthi-controlled areas.
In a statement seen by Yemen Monitor, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) said: “Over the past 24 hours, our forces successfully destroyed three Iranian-backed Houthi unmanned aerial systems launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen over the Gulf of Aden.”
The statement added that USCENTCOM forces had also destroyed “an Iranian-backed Houthi drone in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, a Houthi unmanned surface boat, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Red Sea.”
The US military noted ,”These weapons posed a clear and direct threat to US forces, coalition forces, and commercial shipping in the region.”
Since late last year, the Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and more recently have expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They claim to be targeting ships linked to Israel, which is conducting a brutal assault on Gaza Strip. However, the Yemeni government and experts said that the Houthis’ goals are domestic, aimed at escaping internal crises and improving their image in the region.
In response, the US and the UK have been conducting airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi militants since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced an expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.
From November to early July, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) recorded more than 200 attacks on US commercial or military ships off the coast of Yemen, including nearly 100 attacks since the start of US airstrikes on Yemeni territory.
