A French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, the French military said on Sunday.
The FREMM multi-mission frigate (Aquitaine-class) "Languedoc"
A French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, the French military said on Sunday.
"The interception and destruction of these two identified threats" were carried out late Saturday by the frigate Languedoc, which operates in the Red Sea, the general staff said in a press release.
The interceptions happened at 2030 GMT and 2230 GMT, it added, and were 110 km (68 miles) from the Yemeni coast, AFP reported.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Saturday threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip.
The latest warning comes amid heightened tensions in the Red Sea and surrounding waters following a series of maritime attacks by Houthis since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
An American destroyer shot down three drones last week while providing assistance to commercial ships in the Red Sea targeted by attacks from Yemen, according to Washington, which denounced "a direct threat" to maritime security.
New strikes on Saudi Arabia and on ships in the Gulf tested nerves in the Middle East on Sunday, after an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline and an advance by Yemen's Houthis threatened to worsen the wartime disruption to global energy supplies.
Iran and the United Arab Emirates signed up to a joint statement from the BRICS group of nations that called for restraint in the Middle East war on Saturday, in what was seen as a sign of diplomatic progress between the countries divided by the war.
A lightning offensive by the Iran-aligned Houthis has put the militants in a position to control a crucial Middle East waterway, creating a major new problem for U.S. President Donald Trump as his war with Iran grinds on in its seventh month.
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