Yemeni Houthis destroyed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in Yemeni airspace.
“Our air defense forces shot down an American MQ-9 drone that was carrying out a hostile mission in the sky over Marib province“, said the representative of the rebel armed forces, Yahya Sariya, on the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV channel.
According to his statement, the device was destroyed using a “locally produced missile”, and this was the 16th downed American drone since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began escalated.
After the escalation of the conflict in Gaza in 2023, the Houthis warned that they would shell Israeli territory and prevent ships bound for Tel Aviv from passing through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthi attacks ceased after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza in mid-January of this year, but after it was violated in early March, the rebels first announced the resumption of attacks on Israeli ships in the Red Sea and then again began trying to attack targets in Israel with missiles.
On March 15, the United States, on the orders of President Donald Trump, began carrying out massive strikes against Houthi targets, who control about a third of the territory of Yemen. The operation is aimed at protecting American interests and ensuring freedom of navigation, the US Central Command said. In response, the Houthis launched a series of attacks on the US aircraft carrier "Harry Truman" and its accompanying warships in the northern Red Sea, using missiles and drones. There was no report of any damage to the flotilla as a result of the strikes.