US fighter jet downed as result, with military claiming incident was case of friendly fire
US and UK forces have conducted renewed airstrikes in Yemen’s Hudaydah province and the capital, Sanaa, the Houthi-affiliated Sabaa channel reported on Sunday. The military action comes shortly after Houthi forces claimed to have targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman with drones.
There was no official confirmation of the Sunday attack from either Washington or London.
The Houthis allege their efforts resulted in the downing of an F/A-18 Super Hornet in response to US and UK forces’ previous attack on Sanaa on Saturday evening.
According to military spokesman Yahya Saree, it “has been thwarted through a strategic military operation targeting” the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and several accompanying destroyers. The operation utilized eight cruise missiles and 17 drones, Saree had claimed earlier on Sunday.
The claim was disputed by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which attributes the aircraft’s loss to a “friendly fire” incident involving the USS Gettysburg. An investigation is currently underway to determine the exact circumstances of the occurrence.
According to CENTCOM, on Saturday US forces carried out airstrikes on a “missile storage facility and a command-and-control center” operated by Houthis. They also shot down several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea.
The Houthis, a Shia Islamist group that controls a large part of Yemen, have been attacking Israel-linked commercial shipping in the Red Sea since October last year, in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Since Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza, the Yemeni group has launched missiles or drones at over 80 merchant ships. This escalation followed a series of deadly raids by Hamas into Israeli territory. Initially, the Houthis targeted vessels associated with Israel, but after Anglo-American airstrikes in January, they expanded their attacks to include US and UK vessels as well.
The Houthis have targeted Western warships in the region and assert that they have launched missiles directly at Israel multiple times, characterizing their actions as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
