The American spy drone MQ-9 Reaper, a remotely piloted aircraft, spied against Hamas in Yemen.
Washington:
Yemen’s Huthi rebels have shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, a senior US defense official said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier claim by the Iran-backed group.
The Huthis – who previously shot down a US drone – said the MQ-9 was spying as part of US support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
“A US military MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft was shot down by Huthi forces off the coast of Yemen,” the official said.
The Huthis – who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014 and controlled large parts of the country – claimed responsibility for the shooting earlier in the day.
“Our air defenses were able to down a US MQ-9 while it was conducting hostile surveillance and espionage activities in Yemeni territorial waters as part of US military support” for Israel, the Huthis said in a statement.
The United States rushed military support to Israel and reinforced U.S. forces in the region after Hamas militants carried out a shocking cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials.
The Israeli army responded with a brutal air, land and sea assault on Gaza, killing more than 10,500 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, sparking widespread anger in the region.
The Huthis have attacked Israel several times in recent weeks, and the US Navy intercepted several missiles fired by the Huthis last month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
