A U.S. warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, and a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and American militaries said.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world鈥檚 busiest shipping routes, and have launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.

U.S. Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney 鈥渟uccessfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems鈥� launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The drones 鈥渨ere shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,鈥� Central Command tweeted.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was 鈥渢argeting merchant shipping.鈥� The overnight action is the first time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the 1991 Gulf War.

Shapps said attacks on commercial ships in the global trade artery by Yemen鈥檚 Houthi rebels 鈥渞epresent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.鈥�

鈥淭he U.K. remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade,鈥� he said in a statement.

HMS Diamond was sent to the region two weeks ago as a deterrent, joining vessels from the U.S., France and other countries.

Global shipping has become a target during the war between Israel and Hamas, which like the Houthis is backed by Iran.

Houthi rebels said they fired a barrage of drones on Saturday toward the port city of Eilat in southern Israel. The announcement came hours after Egypt鈥檚 state-run media reported that Egyptian air defense had shot down a 鈥渇lying object鈥� off the Egyptian resort town of Dahab on the Red Sea.

Earlier this month, three commercial ships in the Red Sea were struck by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen, and a U.S. warship shot down three drones during the assault, the U.S. military said.

On Friday Maersk, the world鈥檚 biggest shipping company, told all its vessels planning to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea to 鈥減ause their journey until further notice鈥� after a missile attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship.

Samy Magdy contributed to this report from Cairo.

Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

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