WASHINGTON, United States — Two US Navy pilots have been shot down over the Red Sea early Sunday in “an obvious case of pleasant fireplace,” the US navy stated.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels stated in a while Sunday that they had “focused” the plane provider USS Harry S. Truman a day earlier in an operation that led to “capturing down an F-18 plane” and thwarting “American-British aggression” towards Yemen.
United States Central Command stated late on Saturday that each US pilots have been recovered alive however “preliminary assessments point out that one of many crew members sustained minor accidents.”
This incident “was not the results of hostile fireplace, and a full investigation is underway,” CENTCOM stated.
The probably disastrous mistake underscores the risks of a mission the United States has been concerned in for greater than a yr to counter Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Houthis have repeatedly focused service provider vessels within the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, waterways very important to international commerce.
Illustrative: This handout photograph exhibits US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets, connected to Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1) and Belgian Air Force F-16s flying over the Nimitz-class plane provider USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) within the Mediterranean Sea, July 25, 2022. (Christina SEARS / US NAVY / AFP)
CENTCOM stated the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg “mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18” fighter plane, which Navy pilots had flown off the USS Harry S. Truman.
On Saturday, the United States stated it struck targets together with a missile storage facility in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sana’a, hours after a Houthi insurgent missile wounded individuals in Israel’s industrial hub Tel Aviv.
US forces additionally shot down a number of Houthi assault drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea, CENTCOM stated.
“The operation concerned US Air Force and US Navy belongings, together with F/A-18s,” CENTCOM stated.
The Houthis declare to be appearing in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the place Israel and Hamas have been at struggle since October 7, 2023, when the phobia group led a brutal onslaught in Israel that resulted in 1,200 individuals lifeless and 251 kidnapped, principally civilians.
