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US Military Downs Houthi Missiles And Drones

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – A military standoff in one of the world’s key waterways escalated Wednesday after the United States confirmed it shot down drones and missiles over the southern Red Sea fired from Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

U.S. Central Command (US CENTCOM) said American warships and jets intercepted at least 12 “one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles” launched by the Iran-backed Houthis over 10 hours.

In a statement, US CENTCOM explained that the USS Laboon, a guided-missile destroyer, and F-18 fighter jets from the Eisenhower carrier strike group were involved in the effort.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Drone and missile attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels against cargo ships in the Red Sea disrupted global supply chains and forced most large shipping companies to halt shipping through the vital corridor.

In response, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week announced a new U.S.-led multinational operation to protect ships operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The operation includes military personnel from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Bahrain.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The Houthis say their attacks are in response to U.S. support for Israel waging a war against Hamas after its fighters massacred some 1,200 people on October 7 in the Jewish nation. The Hamas-run health ministry says Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, though these figures have been complex to verify independently.

The Biden administration blamed Iran, which also funds and trains Hamas, for attacks by Houthi militants against commercial and military vessels entering the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The 193.30-kilometers-long (120.11 miles) canal is a crucial trade route between Europe and Asia.

The latest attacks came after the U.S. earlier on Tuesday carried out strikes against Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq after three U.S. service members were wounded in drone strikes on Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq on Christmas Day, officials said.

The Kataib Hezbollah militia and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed responsibility for the attack, which left one service member in a critical condition.

U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed on Monday’s drone attack on U.S. forces in Iraq and ordered the Department of Defense to prepare a response, said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

Israeli, American forces, and their allies also remained on high alert Wednesday after Iran vowed Monday “to take revenge” for the death of one of its top generals, Seyed Razi Mousavi. He was killed in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus, authorities said.

Israeli strikes killed two other generals in Syria earlier this month. Its military has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years.

Israel says the strikes in Syria are aimed at Iran-backed groups that supported the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but it usually does not confirm the attacks.