Yemen's Houthis claim they shot down US drone

Aden (Yemen): Yemen's Houthi group has said their air defences have successfully shot down an American MQ-9 drone over the northeastern province of Marib.

The downing of the drone, the eighth of its kind shot down by the armed group, was carried out "in victory for the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the American-British aggression against Yemen," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Saturday in a statement as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The drone was "carrying out hostile acts" when it was intercepted, Sarea added.

However, a source within Yemen's pro-government armed forces said "there was no evidence to support the Houthis' assertion of downing a US drone".

The unnamed source said that "such claims are often made by the Houthis as a tactic to boost their fighters' morale in combat".

So far, there has been no confirmation from the US side regarding the Houthi claim.

The MQ-9, also known as the Reaper, is an unmanned aerial vehicle primarily used by US military and intelligence organisations for both surveillance and combat operations.

The Houthi rebels offered no pictures or video to support the claim as they have in the past, though such material can appear in propaganda footage days later.

However, the Houthis have repeatedly downed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in the years since they seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Those attacks have exponentially increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and the Houthis launched their campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor.

Saree offered no details on how the rebels down the aircraft. However, Iran has armed the rebels with a surface-to-air missile known as the 358 for years. Iran denies arming the rebels, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in seaborne shipments heading to Yemen despite a United Nations arms embargo.

The Houthis "continue to perform their jihadist duties in victory for the oppressed Palestinian people and in defense of dear Yemen," Saree said.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 metres) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA over Yemen for years.

After the claim, the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel reported multiple US-led airstrikes near the city of Ibb. The US military did not immediately acknowledge the strikes, but the Americans have been striking Houthi targets intensely since January.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

Those attacks include the barrage that struck the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea. Salvagers last week abandoned an initial effort to tow away the burning oil tanker, leaving the Sounion stranded and its one million barrels of oil at risk of spilling.