The United States and the United Kingdom are claiming to have shot down 14 “suspected” drone attacks over the Red Sea on Saturday. Additionally, a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and American militaries said.

These attacks are just one more way to ratchet up the tensions and expand this war even further.

U.S. Warship Responds To Houthi Terror Attacks In Red Seas

According to a report by the Associated Press News, Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and have launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.

U.S. Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney “successfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems” launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The drones “were shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,” Central Command tweeted. –APNews

The U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that the HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “targeting merchant shipping.” The overnight action is the first time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the 1991 Gulf War.

Most reports are using the word “suspected” though, meaning the U.S. and U.K. didn’t know if these drones were going to attack, but decided to down them anyway. That could definitely be seen as a provocation.

“The U.K. remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade,” Shapps said in a statement. He added that the attacks on commercial ships in the global trade artery by Yemen’s Houthi rebels “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”

War Expands: Yemen Houthis Strike 3 Commercial Ships In The Red Sea

Houthi rebels did admit to firing a barrage of drones on Saturday toward the port city of Eilat in southern Israel. The announcement came hours after Egypt’s state-run media reported that Egyptian air defense had shot down a “flying object” off the Egyptian resort town of Dahab on the Red Sea.

The threat to global trade is getting intense.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam said Saturday that the rebels have engaged in “communications and discussions” with international parties, brokered by Oman, on the Houthis’ attacks on ships in the Red and Arabian seas.

U.S. Warship Responds To Houthi Terror Attacks In Red Seas