US warships shot down around a dozen drones fired by Yemen's Houthi terrorists 'well before' they could pose a threat, a senior defence official revealed just hours after the rebels claimed to have mounted an attack.
American F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft have shot down 11 drones fired by the terror group since President Donald Trump approved an order for air strikes over Yemen on Saturday night, Fox News reported.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drones did not come close to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which has played a key role in the latest military action.
The US military took no action because it was not deemed a threat, the official said.
News of the drones being disarmed comes in the wake of Houthi terrorists claiming to have attacked the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier - as well as several American warships - in the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed terror group said, without offering evidence, that they attacked the Truman and its warships with ballistic missiles and drones in response to US attacks.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Sunday: 'The armed forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships in the northern Red Sea, using 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in a joint operation carried out by the missile force, Drone Air Force and the naval forces.'
Several unnamed US defense officials dismissed the claims at the time and said they were not aware of any Houthi attack on the Truman.
The claims came after the first set of Trump's airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels killed at least 31 people - which were triggered when the Houthis started raiding shipping vessels bound for the West.
No comments:
Post a Comment