Navy helicopters sink three Houthi rebel boats in self defense

Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. Navy helicopters sank three small boats carrying Houthi militants in the Red Sea, killing the crews, after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said Sunday.

Helicopters from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the destroyer USS Gravely fired in self-defense after being shot at by Houthi militants aboard three small boats that were attacking a commercial vessel, U.S. Central Command reported.

All the militants aboard the three boats were killed, and a fourth boat fled, Central Command said.

It's the latest in a series of Iranian-backed militant attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, where American and allied ships have been sent to try to maintain order as the war between Gaza and Hamas is about to enter its third month.

The U.S. ships have downed drones, missiles and other munitions being fired toward Israel or responding to direct attacks on the ships themselves, but CENTCOM has pointed out that the U.S. has only retaliated in a small fraction of the incidents. The Houthi rebel attacks have largely been targeted at disrupting commercial traffic in the Red Sea.

Despite ongoing attacks, however, officials have announced the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group will leave the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the "coming days," ABC reported. The Ford, the Navy's newest and largest aircraft carrier, is one of the vessels that was dispatched to the conflict zone just after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the first week of October to try to maintain order.

It was approaching the end of its initial operational, pre-war deployment in the region when it was dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean the day after Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack on Israel Oct. 7.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin initially sent the carrier as part of a fleet of half a dozen vessels that were to keep the terrorist group Hezbollah from broadening the conflict.

"As part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas' attack on Israel," Austin said at the time of the initial deployment.

Austin extended the carrier's deployment again in December to maintain its role in deterring the conflict as regional tensions persisted.

CENTCOM told ABC News the Ford and other surface vessels will return to Norfolk, Virginia, the carrier's home port as originally scheduled to prepare for future deployments.

Despite the fleet's departure, the U.S. will still have a strong presence in the Mediterranean and Middle East that will include the deployment of additional cruisers and destroyers.