French fighter jets destroy 4 drones in the Gulf of Aden

The French Ministry of Defense announced the downing of 4 drones that were flying towards a French frigate stationed in the Gulf of Aden, and the latter was able, with the help of French fighters, to shoot them down.

In February, the European Union officially launched the "ASPEDS" maritime campaign to secure the movement of cargo ships in the Red Sea, in the face of Houthi attacks in Yemen on ships heading to Israel.

The French Defense Department announced in a statement on its website: On the morning of March 9, 2024, while the French frigate was performing patrol work in the Gulf of Aden within the framework of the European “Aspids” operation, it spotted four drones heading towards it. The French frigate and fighters intercepted and destroyed the aircraft as part of legitimate self-defense.

The statement added: These "defensive measures directly contributed to protecting" the True Confidence cargo ship, which was previously attacked, as well as protecting other commercial ships transiting in the region.

The US Central Command had previously announced the killing of three sailors and the injury of four others as a result of a Houthi missile attack on the True Confidence cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

The ship, owned by Liberia and flying the Barbados flag, suffered severe damage, forcing the crew to abandon it. This was the fifth incident in which anti-ship missiles were launched by the Houthis during the past two days.

The Ansar Allah movement (Houthis), which controls most of Yemen's coast on the Red Sea, has previously warned of its intention to attack ships linked to Israel, calling on other countries to withdraw their crews from the targeted ships and not to approach them at sea. This caused a number of shipping companies to suspend their activity in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said that their activity in the Red Sea aims to help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, stressing that they do not aim to close maritime traffic in the region.

Arab and Islamic countries have repeatedly warned Washington that the unconditional support it provides to Israel in the Gaza Strip will lead to an expansion of the conflict in the region.

The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets since mid-January, considering that this comes within the framework of a response to threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.