A British warship, the HMS Diamond, repelled a drone attack on Saturday from Yemen’s Houthi group in the Red Sea, British officials said.
“Deploying her Sea Viper missile system, Diamond destroyed a drone targeting her with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Sunday.
“These intolerable and illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and it is our duty to protect the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement began launching waves of exploding drones and missiles at vessels on Nov. 19 in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. On Friday, a tanker vessel was attacked, sparking a fire on board.
U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines have responded to the Houthi attacks on shipping with dozens of retaliatory strikes across Yemen against Houthi forces.
Early last week, the U.S. Navy intercepted missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi militants while escorting two Maersk ships in the Red Sea.
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