DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The United States and its allies said they shot down 28 drones fired by Yemen’s Houthis at targets in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Saturday, in one of the Iran-backed rebels’ largest attacks.

The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn in the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.

CENTCOM and coalition forces determined that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region.”

It added, in a post on social media platform X, that “US Navy vessels and aircraft along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft shot down 15” of the drones.

“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.”

CENTCOM said in an update later Saturday that the US and its allies had downed a total of 28 drones in the operation.

France’s defense ministry said on Saturday its fighter jets and one warship had shot down four drones in the Gulf of Aden.

“This defensive action contributed directly to the protection of the cargo ship True Confidence (under Barbadian flag), which was hit on March 6 and is currently being towed away,” it said in a statement.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, also on X, said the rebels had carried out two separate attacks.

The first targeted the commercial vessel Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, he said, calling it an “American” ship.

Vessel tracking websites describe the bulk carrier as Singapore-flagged but did not report its current position.

The second attack saw “37 drones” fired at “a number of American” warships, Saree said.

In November, the Houthis started attacking vessels in the Red Sea, an area vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians battling Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.