Yemen's Houthis claim downing another US MQ-9 drone

Sanaa, Nov 8 (IANS): Yemen's Houthi group said Friday that it has shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over northern Yemen's Al-Jawf province.

"Our air defences succeeded in shooting down an American MQ-9 drone, which was carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Al-Jawf province at dawn today, Friday," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"The downing of this drone brings the total number of the same type of drones that we have shot down since November 2023 to 12," he said.

There has been no comment yet from the US military over the alleged downing, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Houthis and the US military have been attacking each other since November last year, when the Houthis began targeting what they said were "Israeli-linked" ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since January, the US-British naval coalition stationed in the region has conducted regular air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets to deter the group.

The Houthi group has seized several northern provinces since late 2014 after it forced the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa in a civil war.