CENTCOM claims US warship downed three Iranian UAVs, Yemeni missile

The US military claimed on Thursday that an American warship shot down three Iranian drones and a ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Central Command (CENTCOM) said one anti-ship ballistic missile was fired from Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden, adding that “the missile was successfully shot down” by the American destroyer USS Carney.

Less than an hour later, the statement mentioned that “the USS Carney engaged and shot down three Iranian UAVs in its vicinity,” without specifying whether the drones were armed or just for surveillance.

Houthi Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile and Iranian UAVs Shot Down in Gulf of Aden pic.twitter.com/hMpm561TZ1

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 1, 2024

A couple of hours later, CENTCOM claimed it conducted strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station.

CENTCOM Self-Defense Strike Against Houthi UAVs and Ground Control Station pic.twitter.com/9LUKQS2HEB

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 1, 2024

This comes as earlier, Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sanaa confirmed Thursday that an ongoing US-British aggression is targeting the coastal city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea, west of Yemen.

Our correspondent mentioned that hostile warplanes are flying intensively over the skies of Hodeidah, coinciding with continuous US-British airstrikes targeting the al-Jabbana area north of Hodeidah.

Local Yemeni media reported that hostile warplanes carried out nine airstrikes on Hodeidah, adding that the aggression is still ongoing, and the sound of US planes flying in the city’s sky can still be heard.

On Wednesday evening. the US-British aggression launched two airstrikes on Saada province, north of Yemen.

Later, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that the naval forces of the YAF carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the American cargo ship “KOI” that was heading to the Israeli-occupied ports of Palestine with several appropriate naval missiles that directly hit the vessel.

In a statement, Saree said the operation came in triumph to the oppressed Palestinian people amid the ongoing Israeli aggression and in response to the American-British aggression on Yemen.

He added that the operation took place just hours after the naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted the American destroyer USS Gravely with several anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea, confirming that the strike was direct and accurate.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had earlier claimed that the destroyer shot down an anti-ship missile fired from Yemen toward the Red Sea and that no injuries or damage were reported.

The latest Yemeni announcement nips in the bud CENTCOM’s claim and an earlier CNN report that cited four US officials as saying that a Yemeni missile came within one mile of USS Gravely before it was able to shoot it down.

The CNN report claimed that the attack on USS Gravely was the closest a YAF attack has come to a US warship in a series of attempts to hit US warships in the Red Sea. However, on January 25, Saree confirmed a confrontation with several US destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab.

Back then, the spokesperson for the YAF confirmed that the results of the confrontation included “directly hitting an American warship and forcing two American merchant ships to retreat and return.”

The Yemeni Armed Forces employed “a number of ballistic missiles” in the operation that lasted for more than two hours, he specified, revealing that a number of these missiles reached their targets, despite the attempts of the warships to intercept them.

On Wednesday, Saree affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces persist with their military operations: enforcing a blockade on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian seas until a ceasefire is achieved, and food and medicine are allowed into the besieged Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip.

The Brigadier General underlined that the Yemeni Armed Forces will confront the American-British escalation with escalation and will not hesitate to carry out wide and qualitative military operations “in response to any American or British foolishness against Yemen.”

Elsewhere, Saree reiterated that all American and British ships in the Red and the Arabian seas are legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces as long as the two countries’ aggression on Yemen persists.

Following the announcement, Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the political bureau of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, told Al Mayadeen that the YAF’s operation came shortly after the US-British aggression on Saada, pointing out that this is a clear message of the readiness and preparedness of the Yemeni Armed Forces.

Al-Qahoum pointed to the US and UK’s clear intentions for a ground escalation toward Yemen and preparations for a military operation using mercenaries.

Nonetheless, the Yemeni official emphasized that the operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces are ongoing and confirm that the YAF cannot be deterred from supporting Gaza.

Read more: US threats via Omani backchannels will not deter Yemen: al-Houthi