LONDON — A Royal Navy warship has shot down a suspected assault drone focusing on industrial ships within the Purple Sea, Britain’s protection secretary mentioned Saturday.

Grant Shapps mentioned that HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “focusing on service provider delivery.” The in a single day motion is the primary time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial goal in anger because the 1991 Gulf Battle.

Shapps mentioned assaults on industrial ships within the international commerce artery by Yemen’s Houthi rebels “symbolize a direct menace to worldwide commerce and maritime safety.”

“The U.Okay. stays dedicated to repelling these assaults to guard the free movement of world commerce,” he mentioned in a press release.

International delivery has turn out to be a goal through the warfare between Israel and Hamas, which just like the Houthis is backed by Iran. The Houthis have launched a sequence of assaults on vessels within the Purple Sea, in addition to launching drones and missiles focusing on Israel.

Houthi rebels mentioned they fired a barrage of drones Saturday towards the port metropolis of Eilat in southern Israel. The announcement got here hours after Egypt’s state-run media reported that Egyptian air protection had shot down a “flying object” off the Egyptian resort city of Dahab on the Purple Sea.

PHOTOS: Britain says a Royal Navy ship has shot down an assault drone over the Purple Sea

Earlier this month, three industrial ships within the Purple Sea had been struck by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen, and a U.S. warship shot down three drones through the assault, the U.S. army mentioned.

On Friday Maersk, the world’s greatest delivery firm, instructed all its vessels planning to move by way of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait within the Purple Sea to “pause their journey till additional discover” after a missile assault on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship.

HMS Diamond was despatched to the area two weeks in the past as a deterrent, becoming a member of vessels from the U.S., France and different international locations. ___