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

Sanaa: Yemen's Houthi group said on Monday it shot down another US-made MQ-9 drone over the province of Dhamar.

"The drone was shot down by a locally made surface-to-air rocket," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"This is the third drone of the same type we shot down in a week and the tenth of this type since October last year," he said.

He also reiterated the threat to launch more attacks against Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Sunday, the Houthi group claimed responsibility for launching a missile attack on central Israel. Israel confirmed the Houthi attack, saying the missile hit an empty area.

Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, the Houthi group has been targeting Israeli cities and launching anti-ship ballistic missile and drone attacks against what the group said were "Israeli-linked" cargo ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

In response, the US-British navy coalition has since been conducting airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen to deter the group.

The Houthi group seized several northern provinces in late 2014 when the civil war in Yemen broke out, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.