Two US Navy pilots ejected safely after their fighter jet was shot down over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement.
The pilots were rescued, with one of them suffering minor injuries, according to initial assessments. The case happened on Saturday (21).
The aircraft, an F/A-18, was operating from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman when it received fire “in error” from the USS Gettysburg, Central Command said.
The USS Gettysburg, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, is part of the Truman aircraft carrier strike group, which entered Middle Eastern waters a week ago.
An investigation is ongoing. Centcom emphasized that the incident was not the result of “hostile fire.” The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran, have made false claims of attacking US warships operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on other occasions.
The United States has stationed large Navy warships in the region since the start of the war in Gaza, as the Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, in “solidarity with the Palestinians.”
US attacks against the Houthis
The incident happened on the same day that the US carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting a missile storage facility and a command and control facility in the capital Sana’a.
The US also shot down one-way attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile, according to Centcom.
The attacks on the rebel group involved US Navy F/A-18 fighters, as well as US Air Force assets.
According to two military officials, the downed fighter jet was not part of the strikes in Yemen.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, say they will not stop attacking Israel and its allies until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
The F/A-18 incident also occurred on the same day that Houthi forces said they fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at an Israeli military target in the Jaffa area of Tel Aviv.
The missile fired from Yemen hit Tel Aviv overnight until Saturday (21), Israeli authorities reported, in a rare case of failed interception over the city.
More than a dozen people suffered minor injuries, according to emergency services, but no fatalities were reported.
*Lauren Izso, Edward Szekeres and Kareem El Damanhoury, from CNN, contributed to this report
This content was originally published in US fighter pilots eject over Red Sea after apparent “friendly fire” on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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