A US destroyer on a mission in the Red Sea on Saturday shot down 14 drones launched from Houthi rebel-held areas of Yemen, the US Middle East Command (Centcom) announced, as three other US warships headed towards the Bab Strait area. – Mandeb, where Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels, causing major shipping companies to suspend the movement of their ships through the Red Sea, international news agencies reported.

The Bab el-Mandeb strait, located between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, is particularly important for sea transport, through which about 40% of world trade is transited.

Houthi rebels, who are close to Iran and control Yemen’s west coast, have threatened that any ship in the area bound for Israel could be targeted in retaliation for the Israeli army’s offensive against the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Several commercial vessels have been attacked in this way by drones or missiles in recent weeks, with the attacks intensifying since Friday and also targeting vessels that did not have an Israeli port as their destination.

Denmark’s Maersk, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and France’s CMA CGM have decided that their container ships will not go through the Red Sea for now, which means they will have to bypass the whole of Africa, significantly increasing transit times. and thus disrupt commercial operations and supply chains.

To ensure navigational security, the United States has two destroyers in the area, USS Carney and USS Mason, and three other ships of the same type have been ordered to enter the Red Sea from the Mediterranean.

The destroyer USS Carney shot down 14 unmanned aerial vehicles, identified as strike drones, on Saturday morning, according to US Forces Middle East Command (Centcom).

And British Defense Minister Grant Shapps announced that a British destroyer shot down a drone in the same area last night.

(Source: Agerpres / Photo: Dreamstime.com)