US warship shoots down drones fired from Houthi-held Yemen in Red Sea

A US warship shot down three drones after three commercial vessels came under attack in the Red Sea, the US military has said.

It said the USS Carney assisted the ships - which had links to 14 nations including the UK - on December 3 after they were targeted from areas of Yemen held by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, according to BBC.

Two of the ships were hit by missiles but there were no casualties, it added.

A Houthi spokesman said the group's navy had attacked two Israeli ships.

The Israeli military said the vessels had no connection to Israel.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have controlled parts of Yemen since the movement toppled the country's government in 2014, sparking an ongoing civil war.

US Central Command (Centcom), part of the US military which oversees operations in the Middle East, said that on Sunday morning, the USS Carney detected an anti-ship ballistic missile exploding near the Unity Explorer, a Bahamian-flagged, UK-owned and operated cargo ship.