Yemeni army says hits 2 American ships with ‘appropriate naval missiles’, downs US drone

, Yemeni army’s spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the country’s naval forces have “carried out two specific military operations in which they targeted two American ships in the Gulf of Aden.”

He identified the vessels as Sea Champion and Navis Fortuna, adding that they were targeted with a number of ‘appropriate naval missiles’, which led to direct hits and caused casualties.

Elsewhere in his statement, Saree noted that the Yemeni forces had carried out four operations against American and British targets during the past 24 hours.

“The first [operation] targeted a British ship and resulted in its complete sinking,” the Yemeni army’s spokesman said, adding, “The second operation targeted an American MQ9 aircraft in the airspace of [Yemen’s] Hudaydah Governorate, while the last two operations targeted two American ships.”

Saree said the MQ9 Reaper drone was hit “with a suitable missile while it was carrying out hostile missions against our country.”

He asserted that the Yemeni Armed Forces will continue their operations in the Red and Arabian seas “in defense of our people, our country, and our nation,” and in reaffirmation of their unwavering support for the Palestinian people in Gaza, who have been under Israel’s genocidal war for the past five months.

Saree stressed that the Yemeni army’s operations against the United States, the UK and Israel will not stop until the Israeli regime’s aggression against Gaza stops and the siege of the Palestinian territory is lifted.

Yemen has declared its support for the Palestinians’ struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched its devastating onslaught on Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the territory’s resistance movements carried out Operation al-Aqsa Flood against the occupied territories.

Since then, the country’s Armed Forces have been targeting Israeli ships and those bound for ports in the occupied Palestinian territories in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, prompting some shipping companies to take a detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, which normally handles about 12 percent of global maritime trade.

The Yemeni army says only Israeli, US and British ships are targeted, stating that other countries can rest assured of the safety of their cargoes.