U.S. Fighter Jet Shot Down Over Red Sea, Houthis Claim Responsibility While CENTOM Claims It Was ‘Friendly Fire’
An F-18 Hornet fighter pilot takes off from the deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Eastern Mediterranean, May 8, 2018. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 5:20pm – Monday, December 23, 2024
U.S. Central Command reported Sunday that two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in a “mutual attack” incident. Both pilots safely ejected the jet, but one suffered minor injuries.
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The two pilots were flying another F/A-18 fighter jet in the USS Harry S. Truman Strike Group when they were “accidentally hit by fire” from the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg.
It was not immediately clear why Gettysburg mistook the F/A-18 jet for an enemy aircraft, but Central Command added that “a full investigation is underway.”
The crossfire came after the Central Command announced on Saturday that it had carried out precision airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, targeting command and control facilities as well as missile storage facilities.
The attacks against the Houthis are an ongoing effort in response to Houthi missile attacks on cargo ships, which threaten global supply chains as an estimated 12% of the world's supplies pass through the Red Sea route.
“We continue to make clear to the Houthis that there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
The Houthis said they were attacking the cargo ship in response to Israel's “genocide against our compatriots in the Gaza Strip” which claimed the lives of more than 45,000 people, the majority of them women and children.
Additionally, the Houthis came out and tried to take credit for the downing of an American fighter jet by eight cruise missiles and 17 drones, which led to a “failed hostile attack on Yemeni territory.”
“The US attack on Yemen is a reprehensible and illegal terrorist attack that supports the terrorism of the Israeli Provisional Organization, which continues its genocide and siege of the Gaza population,” Houthi Reza Mohamed Al Houthi said. said.
“The American terrorist attack confirms the lawless violence and criminal activity in the region. Reckless acts of terrorism against Yemen will not stop aid efforts in Gaza,” he continued.
Al Houthi added that the US would not reveal the truth behind the downing of the plane “to prevent further collapse of soldiers' morale.”
علهجمات الأمريكية على اليمن هجمات إرهابية مدانةوغير مشروعة تساند الكيان الإسرائيليLog in to add translation Please log in. Log in to add translation News News News News News News
