The US military says it was responding to a second attack on the same vessel near Yemen in 24 hours.

The US Navy has destroyed Houthi “small boats” attempting to board a container ship in the Red Sea.

Four vessels from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired upon the Maersk Hangzhou and got to within metres of the ship, the US military said.

Helicopters from nearby US warships responded to a distress call and after being fired upon, sunk three of them “in self-defence”.

The crews were killed and the fourth boat fled the area.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November.

  • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.worldEnglish
    616·
    11 months ago

    The one surefire way to trigger an overwhelming US military response is to shoot down one of our helos. So unless they want the entire Somali Yemeni coast glassed (which, to be fair, they might as part of a larger geopolitical strategy), they would have to be very stupid to shoot at a USN helicopter.

    ETA: corrected location; my bad