The US military said Sunday that two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in an “apparent cross-fire incident”, marking the country’s most serious attack on Yemen’s Houthi rebels in more than a year. Announced.
Both pilots were rescued alive after ejecting from the crashed aircraft, one with minor injuries. But the incident highlights how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become as Iranian-backed Houthis continue to attack ships, despite a U.S. and European military coalition patrolling the area. I made it.
At the time, the U.S. military was carrying out airstrikes targeting the Houthis in Yemen, but Central Command (Centcom) did not elaborate on the nature of the mission.
Centcom said the downed F/A-18 had just taken off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. On December 15, Centcom confirmed that the Truman had entered the Middle East, but did not specify that the carrier and its battle group were in the Red Sea.
“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, a member of the USS Harry S. The incident was under investigation.
The military said the downed aircraft was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter belonging to the Red Rippers, a Quadron 11 attack fighter based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
It was not immediately clear how Gettysburg could have mistaken the F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, especially since ships in a battle group are linked by both radar and radio communications.
However, Centcom said its warships and aircraft earlier shot down several Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the rebels. Hostile fire from the Houthis has allowed sailors to make decisions in a matter of seconds in the past.
Since Truman’s arrival, the United States has stepped up airstrikes targeting the Houthis and missile launches into the Red Sea and surrounding areas. However, the presence of a group of American warships could spark new attacks by insurgents, as witnessed by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower earlier this year. The deployment was described by the Navy as the heaviest fighting since World War II.
On Saturday night and early Sunday, US warplanes carried out airstrikes that shook Yemen’s capital Sanaa, which has been occupied by the Houthis since 2014. Centcom said the airstrike targeted a “missile storage facility” and a “command and control facility.” facility”.
Houthi-affiliated media reported attacks both in Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeidah, but did not provide any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, the attack appears to have specifically targeted a mountainside known for its military installations. The Houthis later admitted that the plane was shot down in the Red Sea.
Since the Israeli-Hamas war began in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Houthis have targeted around 100 commercial ships with missiles and drones.
In the operation, the Houthis captured one ship, sank two others, and killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones were intercepted by a separate U.S.- and European-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. This included Western military vessels.
The rebels claim they are targeting ships with ties to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom in order to force an end to Israel’s operations against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked had little or no connection to the conflict, including those bound for Iran.
The Houthis have also increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory airstrikes by Israel.
