An ship of the Italian Navy it ended up under Houthi attack in the Red Sea and destroyed a Houthi rebel drone. The drone was launched from Yemen towards the Carlo Duilio ship, the Navy destroyer which will be the base of the nascent European operation Aspides.
This is the first attack by the Houthis directed towards Italy. The Yemeni rebels, until now, had only carried out raids on US and British boats.
Italy shoots down a drone in the Red Sea
For the first time since the explosion of the crisis in the Middle East, therefore, the Yemeni rebels have an Italian soldier was targeted which has been stationed in the area since February to guarantee safe navigation for merchant ships heading towards Suez.
The warning from the Houthis to our country had already arrived in the past few weeks when the leaders of the group had said that, by taking command of Aspides, “Italy puts security at risk of his ships military and commercial".
The Defense announced that yesterday afternoon, a drone, launched from Yemen, it flew in the direction of Duilio, immediately triggering the alert on board and activating the self-defense systems. The aircraft was shot down 6 kilometers away from the boat, thanks to equipment that can count on three cannons, two machine guns, an anti-aircraft missile system, two rocket launchers, two anti-submarine torpedo launchers and a helicopter.
The military ship took the place of the Martinengo frigate which three weeks ago received command of the European operation Atalanta. The Duilio will instead be the flagship he will command the fleet of the other European mission, the Aspides, launched from Brussels on 19 February and awaiting the parliamentary approval that will officially give command to Admiral Costantino. The first debate in the Senate has been scheduled for March 5th.
Three days ago, however, it was the turn of the German frigate "Hessen", also part of the Aspides fleet, to face an attack by the Houthis. For the first time, also in this case, the vessel had rejected two drones "in rapid succession" headed directly towards the frigate.
Crosetto: “Serious violation of international law”
“The Houthi terrorist attacks are a serious violation of international law and an attack on the safety of maritime traffic on which our economy depends. These attacks are part of a hybrid war, which uses every possibility, not just military, to damage some countries and help others"", said the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, about the attack on Nave Duilio in the Red Sea.
Il Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, highlighted the role of the Navy which - he writes - "defends the right to free navigation in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks".
Just yesterday the same one Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, during the meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House, had defined the Houthi attacks as "unacceptable", defining the Aspides mission as an "important European response" against the Houthis.
