U.S. Central Command confirms it shot down four Houthi drones in the Red Sea

U.S. Central Command said the destroyer USS Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea on Saturday that U.S. officials said came from Iranian allies Houthi, a rebel group in Yemen. There were no injuries or damage.

"On December 23, two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired into international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. No ships reported being impacted by the ballistic missiles," U.S. Central Command wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Likewise, authorities stated that "the USS LABOON (DDG 58) was patrolling in the Southern Red Sea as part of Operation PROSPERITY GUARDIAN (OPG)."

Two ships under attack in the Red Sea

The command also indicated that after shooting down the four drones, it received reports of two ships in the Red Sea that were under attack. One was the M/V Blaamanen, a Norwegian-flagged oil tanker that was owned and operated and nearly collided with a Houthi one-way attack drone. Meanwhile, a second vessel, the M/V Saibaba, an Indian-flagged oil tanker owned by Gabon, reported that it was hit by a one-way attack drone. The USS Laboon (DDG 58) responded to distress calls for those attacks.

"These attacks represent the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi militants since Oct. 17.," said the U.S. Central Command.