Houthis claim to shoot down US Reaper drone, release footage showing wreckage
- The Yemen-based rebels say they hit the aircraft with a missile as part of a renewed series of assaults amid the Israel-Gaza war
- The Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, causing a decline in global shipping in the area
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed the shooting down of another of the US military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.
The Houthis said on Saturday that they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Gaza war in the Gaza Strip.
US Air Force Lt Col Bryon J. McGarry, a Defence Department spokesperson, acknowledged on Saturday that “a US Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen”. He said an investigation was under way, without elaborating.
The Houthis described the downing as happening on Thursday over their stronghold in the country’s Saada province.
Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.