US Forces Engage Six Houthi Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Protesters hold up rifles during a rally organized by the Houthis in Sanaa, Yemen March 22, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Protesters hold up rifles during a rally organized by the Houthis in Sanaa, Yemen March 22, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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US Forces Engage Six Houthi Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Protesters hold up rifles during a rally organized by the Houthis in Sanaa, Yemen March 22, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Protesters hold up rifles during a rally organized by the Houthis in Sanaa, Yemen March 22, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

US forces engaged six Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the southern Red Sea after the group launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles toward a Chinese-owned oil tanker, the US Central Command said on Saturday.

Iranian-backed Houthis launched the missiles in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker, the Central Command said in a post on X.

A fifth missile was fired toward the oil tanker, which issued a distress call, the Central Command said, adding that no casualties were reported in the incident and a fire on board was extinguished.

US forces then engaged six UAVs, five of which crashed into the Red Sea, and one flew inland into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the Central Command said.

US forces conducted self-defense strikes against three Houthi underground weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, CENTCOM said on Friday.



Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday he hopes to have good things to report about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Witkoff, at a press conference held by Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the President."

Republican Trump said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 2024 attack on Israel: "If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone."