U.S. airmen and soldiers secure 40 bundles of humanitarian aid on a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the Air Mobility Command, at an undisclosed location within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 29, 2024. (U.S. Air Force )

U.S. forces successfully destroyed two drones Sunday that originated in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, U.S. Central Command announced.

One of the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) was shot down over the Red Sea, and the other was engaged on the ground as it prepared to launch.

The drones “presented a threat to U.S. and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM did not identify any of the vessels that might have been the target of the attack.

U.S. and U.K. forces in the Red Sea have continually struck the Iranian-backed Houthis at military targets in areas the group controls in Yemen and at missiles and drones launched at shipping in the Red Sea, a vital commercial waterway.

U.S. Navy vessels have been targeted repeatedly by the Houthis, either by drones or by close-range ballistic missiles. The destroyer USS Laboon, part of the group escorting the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was unsuccessfully targeted March 12 by a missile; in January the destroyers USS Gravely in the Red Sea and the USS Carney in the Gulf of Aden were also targeted but downed both missiles.

Meanwhile, airdrops of aid into Gaza continued.

U.S. C-130s dropped over 50,000 U.S. meals ready to eat (MREs) into Northern Gaza on Sunday, CENTCOM said.

The joint operation included four C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft and U.S. Army soldiers who specialize in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies.

More than 2 million people are estimated to be displaced by the war that began Oct. 7, when a Hamas terrorist attack killed 1,200 people in Israel. Gaza health authorities estimate the number of dead in the territory at more than 30,000 people, a figure that does not distinguish between bystanders and combatants.

In addition to the continuing airdrops, the U.S. has deployed troops to construct a floating pier and a roughly 1,800-foot causeway in the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza’s coast, where commercial vessels can dock and offload aid to be transported by smaller vessels and vehicles into Gaza.