International Courant
JERUSALEM — JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels stated Saturday they’ve shot down one other U.S. army MQ-9 Reaper drone, broadcasting photographs of elements matching recognized elements of the unmanned plane.
The Houthis stated they shot down the Predator with a surface-to-air missile, a part of a renewed collection of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull of their strain marketing campaign over the conflict between Israel and Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Air Pressure Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Protection Division spokesman, acknowledged to The Related Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Pressure MQ-9 drone has crashed in Yemen.” He stated an investigation was underway, with out elaborating.
The Houthis described the crash as happening Thursday over their stronghold in Saada province.
Footage launched by the Houthis confirmed what they described because the missile launch focusing on the drone, with a person off digicam chanting the Houthi slogan after it was hit: “God is the best; loss of life to America; loss of life to Israel; curse the Jews; victory for Islam.”
The footage contains a number of close-ups of elements of the drone, together with the brand of Common Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers comparable to recognized elements of the corporate.
For the reason that Houthis seized the north of the nation and the capital Sanaa in 2014, the US army has misplaced at the very least 5 drones to the rebels, in case you depend Thursday’s capturing – in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this yr.
Reapers, which value about $30 million every, can fly at altitudes of as much as 15,000 toes and have an endurance of as much as 24 hours earlier than needing to land.
The drone capturing comes because the Houthis launch assaults on transport within the Purple Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel finish the conflict in Gaza that has killed greater than 34,000 Palestinians there. The conflict started after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 folks and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have carried out greater than 50 assaults on transport since November, seizing one ship and sinking one other, based on the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi assaults have waned in latest weeks because the rebels have been focused by a US-led airstrike marketing campaign in Yemen. Transport by means of the Purple Sea and the Gulf of Aden has decreased because of the risk. US officers have speculated that the rebels might run out of weapons on account of the US-led marketing campaign in opposition to them and after steadily firing drones and missiles in latest months. Nevertheless, the rebels have renewed their assaults prior to now week.
