Houthis say they have shot down a US drone near Yemen
The Pentagon is investigating the cause of a U.S. military surveillance drone crash off the coast of Yemen on Monday morning, two U.S. officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, confirmed that the drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, fell from the sky. Iran-backed Houthi militants said on Monday they had downed the drone near the port city of Al Hudaydah, in western Yemen.
“Yemeni air defenses were able to shoot down a US aircraft (MQ-9) with a suitable missile while it was carrying out hostile missions against our country on behalf of the Zionist entity,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a speech . rack.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to take more military measures and conduct more qualitative operations against all hostile targets in defense of the beloved Yemen,” the statement said.
If the Houthis' claims are confirmed, this will be the second time the group has shot down a US drone since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and Israel's response, plunged the region into crisis.
The downing of a Reaper drone, the mainstay of the US military's aerial surveillance fleet, marks a new escalation of violence between the United States and Iranian-backed groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. The events have intensified over the past two months, underscoring the risk that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a broader war.
The United States struck five Houthi military targets, including an undersea drone, in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, according to a statement from the military's Central Command.
The use of the underwater drone would have been the first time the Houthis have deployed such a weapon since they began their campaign against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on October 23, the statement said.
The Houthis say the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians who have suffered from Israel's retaliatory attacks in Gaza.
The stepped-up attacks have prompted an American-led international maritime response, including a series of attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The United States accuses Iran of supplying the Houthis. But U.S. officials also acknowledge that Tehran does not have direct control over the Houthis or a number of other Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.