US Aircraft, Coalition Ship Shoot Down 5 Houthi Attack Drones

A Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 has Paveway IV weapons loaded by Weapon Technicians in support of current ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen, February 22, 2024. As1 Tomas Barnard/UK MOD/Handout via REUTERS
A Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 has Paveway IV weapons loaded by Weapon Technicians in support of current ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen, February 22, 2024. As1 Tomas Barnard/UK MOD/Handout via REUTERS
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US Aircraft, Coalition Ship Shoot Down 5 Houthi Attack Drones

A Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 has Paveway IV weapons loaded by Weapon Technicians in support of current ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen, February 22, 2024. As1 Tomas Barnard/UK MOD/Handout via REUTERS
A Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 has Paveway IV weapons loaded by Weapon Technicians in support of current ongoing operations against Houthi targets in Yemen, February 22, 2024. As1 Tomas Barnard/UK MOD/Handout via REUTERS

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said US aircraft and a coalition warship on Feb. 27 shot down five one-way attack drones in the Red Sea that originated from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

The drones "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the US Navy and coalition ships in the region," CENTCOM said in a statement on Wednesday.

Houthis said on Tuesday they could only reconsider their missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea once Israel ends its "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.

Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated Houthi strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.



Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
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Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

More than 273,000 Syrians who fled their country's civil war to neighboring Türkiye have returned home since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad in December, Türkiye's vice-president said Friday.

"The number of people who have voluntarily returned to Syria since December 8, 2024 has exceeded 273,000," Cevdet Yilmaz was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu news agency.

Some 2.7 million Syrian refugees are still in Türkiye, according to interior ministry figures released in May.

The Turkish government, which supports Syria's new rulers, is hoping to accelerate the return of refugees to ease tensions generated by their presence in parts of the country.