The Houthis from Yemen’s rebel Ansar Allah movement have downed a US reconnaissance combat drone over Yemen, the movement’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea announced.
“The Yemeni army’s air defense forces destroyed a US MQ-9 drone which was making hostile actions in the Yemeni airspace over the Saada governorate,” Sarea told the Houthi-owned Al Masirah television channel.
According to Sarea, the drone was shot down by a locally-manufactured ground-to-air projectile. This marks the seventh MQ-9 Reaper drone downed by the Houthis since the latest outbreak of tensions in the region following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023.
The US CBS television channel reported on April 27, citing its sources, that since November 2023 the United States had lost three MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen. Each drone reportedly costs $30 million.
Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned of launching strikes on Israeli territory and barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operations against the Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave. Since mid-November, dozens of civilian ships have been attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In response to Ansar Allah’s actions, US authorities announced the creation of an international coalition and preparations for an operation codenamed Prosperity Guardian, aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation and the protection of ships in the Red Sea. Since then, the United States and the United Kingdom have been regularly delivering strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
