Yemen’s Houthis Launch Their Largest Red Sea Drone And Missile Attack, Though No Damage Is Reported

Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the United States and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major naval engagement, authorities said Wednesday. No damage was immediately reported.

The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis came despite a planned United Nations Security Council vote later Wednesday to potentially condemn and demand an immediate halt to the attacks by the rebels, who say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

However, their targets increasingly have tenuous — or no — relationship with Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe. That raises the risk of a U.S. retaliatory strike on Yemen that could upend an uneasy cease-fire that’s held in the Arab world’s poorest country.

Read more: AP