Yemeni Forces Bring Down American Drone
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – In separate operations, the Yemeni military forces have intercepted and shot down a US-made drone belonging to the United Arab Emirates as well as a Saudi aircraft over the northern province of al-Jawf and the central province of Ma'rib.
The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a post on his Twitter page that Yemeni air defense forces targeted the US-made General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone, operated by the UAE air force, with a surface-to-air missile as it was carrying out hostilities over al-Jawf early on Friday.
Shortly afterward, Saree announced in a separate tweet that Yemeni air defense units had shot down a US-built Boeing Insitu ScanEagle spy drone of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces highlighted that the unmanned aerial vehicle was struck as it was flying in the skies over the al-Jubah district in the oil-producing Ma’rib province, Press TV reported.
The developments took place hours after Saudi warplanes carried out at least 15 air raids against the Harad district in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah, the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or extent of damage.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies, backed by the United States and European powers, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing Ansarullah resistance movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.