Navy pilots flying over the red sea were shot down in an apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, the US military said.
The US military was conducting airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels and mistakenly hit two US Navy pilots.
Both were recovered alive, with one suffering minor injuries.
‘The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman,’ Central Command said in a statement.
Central Command did not elaborate on their mission.
The Houthi rebels have said their aims are to stop Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza strip.
The Houthi campaign, which the rebels say only targets vessels linked to Israel or its allies, has caused major disruption with many shipping firms opting for a much longer route around the tip of Africa for security concerns.
The US military was conducting airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels and mistakenly hit two US Navy pilots
The Houthi rebels have said their aims are to stop Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza strip. Their campaign, which the rebels say only targets vessels linked to Israel or its allies, has caused major disruption with many shipping firms opting for a much longer route around the tip of Africa for security concerns
The Houthis, based in Yemen, have been firing rockets, drones and missiles north towards Israel, interrupting Red Sea shipping
The Houthi leader said, reported earlier this year, that ‘there is no problem for the Europeans, China and the whole world to pass through the Red Sea.’
‘The only and exclusive target are ships linked to Israel.’
But he added that any government that joins the military action against the rebels’ naval forces would face reprisals.
‘Whoever wants to get involved, attack our dear people and target the naval forces is actually risking their fleet and commercial ships,’ Houthi warned.
‘We hope that the rest of the Arab and Islamic countries will never get involved with the Americans, the Israelis and the British.’
Vessels passing Yemen have come under frequent assault from Houthi rebels since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the October 7 terror attack by the Hamas group.
The rebels transformed from a local armed group to a much stronger power after receiving support from Iran, Iraqi armed groups, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants and others, according to a report from U.N. experts.
The group has been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, disrupting global shipping in a key geological area, to support Iranian-backed Hamas militants.
Supporters of the Houthi movement rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and Britain on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen
People gather near burning Israeli and U.S. flags, as supporters of the Houthi movement rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and Britain on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen
A Yemeni youth holds a mockup rocket during a protest following US and British forces strikes, in the Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa
While the Houthi’s have claimed the group would only be attacking Israeli linked ships, their targeting has not upheld those claims.
‘The group’s shift to actions at sea increased their influence in the region,’ the U.N. experts said. ‘Such a scale of attacks, using weapon systems on civilian vessels, had never occurred since the Second World War.’
The U.N. experts said the Yemen conflict, which started as an internal fight an expanded into a regional confrontation, ‘has now escalated into a major international crisis.’
As of November, the number of Houthi fighters was estimated by experts to have reached 350,000 compared to 220,000 in 2022 and 30,000 in 2015.
The experts said the panel saw similarities between multiple military weapons used by the Houthis and those produced and operated by Iran or its allies in the Axis of Resistance, which includes Hezbollah and Hamas and armed groups in Iraq and Syria.
The Houthis also have been recruiting large numbers of Yemeni children as well as exploiting Ethiopian migrants, forcing them to join their fight against the government and engage in trafficking narcotics.
‘Exploiting high illiteracy rates, particularly in tribal areas, they have reportedly mobilized boys as young as 10 or 11, often despite parental opposition,’ experts said. ‘Recruitment sermons and weekly classes on jihad are reportedly delivered in schools.’
Child recruitment seemed to increase after the war in Gaza started and the US and UK airstrikes in Yemen, the experts added.
Yemen’s government said it received 3,298 reports of child recruitment in the first half of 2024, with youngsters reportedly used as human shields, spies and in combat – and for planting landmines and explosives, reconnaissance and as cooks.