JERUSALEM — JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed taking pictures down one other of the U.S. army’s MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of elements that corresponded to identified items of the unmanned plane.
The Houthis mentioned they shot down the Predator with a surface-to-air missile, a part of a renewed sequence of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull of their strain marketing campaign over the Israel-Hamas battle within the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. army acknowledged to The Related Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Power MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” It mentioned an investigation was underway, with out elaborating.
The Houthis described the downing as taking place Thursday over their stronghold within the nation’s Saada province.
Footage launched by the Houthis included what they described because the missile launch focusing on the drone, with a person off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the best; demise to America; demise to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage included a number of close-ups on elements of the drone that included the emblem of Normal Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with identified elements made by the corporate.
For the reason that Houthis seized the nation’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. army has misplaced not less than 5 drones to the rebels counting Thursday’s shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this yr.
Reapers, which price round $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes as much as 50,000 ft and have an endurance of as much as 24 hours earlier than needing to land.
The drone shootdown comes because the Houthis launch assaults on delivery within the Purple Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the battle in Gaza, which has killed greater than 34,000 Palestinians there. The battle started after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 individuals and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched greater than 50 assaults on delivery, seized one vessel and sank one other since November, based on the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi assaults have dropped in current weeks because the rebels have been focused by a U.S.-led airstrike marketing campaign in Yemen. Delivery via the Purple Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the risk. American officers have speculated that the rebels could also be operating out of weapons because of the U.S.-led marketing campaign towards them and after firing drones and missiles steadily within the final months. Nevertheless, the rebels have renewed their assaults within the final week.
