U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has said an American warship shot down a drone launched from Yemen in the Red Sea on Wednesday that appeared to have been heading toward the ship.
A spokesperson for CENTCOM—the U.S. military combatant command responsible for the Middle East—told NTD News that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) “engaged a drone that originated from Yemen and was heading in the direction of the ship” on Nov. 15.
The CENTCOM spokesperson said the drone was destroyed, and that no U.S. personnel were injured as a result of the encounter.
The spokesperson did not provide any additional details about the incident, but said more information would be released following a review of the matter by the U.S. National Security Council. It remains unclear as yet who may have launched the drone.
The incident marks the second time a U.S. warship operating near Yemen has intercepted airborne targets launched from the country in the past month. On Oct. 19, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) shot down three land attack cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen that were flying toward Israel. The U.S. Navy has attributed these drone and cruise missile launches to Houthi forces in Yemen.
The Houthis are a Zaydi Shiite movement that has intermittently fought with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2004. The conflict expanded after the Houthis took over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in September 2014, bringing on a civil war that has seen Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states intervene on behalf of the Yemeni government.
The Houthis appear to have stepped up their activities in the weeks since Hamas terrorists crossed over from the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Earlier this month, the Houthis claimed credit for another barrage of missiles launched at Israel, and Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said such attacks would continue until “Israeli aggression” stopped—an apparent reference to the strikes throughout the Gaza Strip that the Israeli military has conducted in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
Last week, the Houthis claimed credit for shooting down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone on Nov. 8. The U.S. military said that the drone had been operating over international waters off the coast of Yemen when it was shot down. At a Tuesday press briefing, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the U.S. military reserves the right to respond to the Nov. 8 downing of its drone at a time and place of its choosing.
It was not immediately clear if the drone that had been flying toward the USS Thomas Hudner on Wednesday was being operated by the Houthis or any other group hostile to the United States.
The Wednesday drone incident near Yemen comes as U.S. forces have repeatedly come under attack in other areas of the Middle East in the past month.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed there have been 55 separate rocket and drone attacks targeting U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17. At least 59 U.S. service members have sustained injuries in these attacks.
The DOD has attributed the rocket and drone attacks in Iraq and Syria to various militant groups they allege have received backing from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The U.S. military has responded to these attacks with three separate rounds of airstrikes targeting suspected IRGC-linked facilities in Syria.
Like the militant groups that have launched rockets and explosive one-way drones at U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. State Department has assessed that Iran has been supplying weapons and funding to the Houthis in Yemen for several years.