The Pentagon is investigating the reason for a crash of a US navy surveillance drone off the coast of Yemen on Monday morning, two US officers mentioned.
The officers, talking on the situation of anonymity to debate operational issues, confirmed that the drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, fell from the sky. Iran-backed Houthi militants mentioned on Monday that they had shot down the drone close to the port metropolis of Al Hudaydah in western Yemen.
“The Yemeni air protection managed to shoot down an American aircraft (MQ-9) with an acceptable missile whereas it was finishing up hostile missions in opposition to our nation on behalf of the Zionist entity,” a Houthi navy spokesman, Yahya Sarea, mentioned in an announcement.
“The Yemeni armed forces won’t hesitate to take additional navy measures and conduct extra qualitative operations in opposition to all hostile targets in protection of the beloved Yemen,” the assertion mentioned.
If the Houthis' claims are confirmed, this would be the second time the group has shot down a US drone since Hamas' October 7 assault on Israel, and Israel's response has plunged the area into disaster. .
The downing of a Reaper drone, the mainstay of the US navy's aerial surveillance fleet, is one other escalation of violence between the US and Iran-backed teams in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. The episodes have intensified up to now two months, elevating the danger that the battle between Israel and Hamas may spiral right into a wider warfare.
The US struck 5 Houthi navy targets, together with an underwater drone, in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, based on an announcement from the military's Central Command.
Using the underwater drone is believed to be the primary time the Houthis have employed such a weapon since they started their marketing campaign in opposition to ships within the Pink Sea and Gulf of Aden on 23 October, the assertion mentioned.
The Houthis say the assaults are in solidarity with Palestinians who’ve been dwelling underneath Israel's retaliatory assaults in Gaza.
The stepped-up assaults prompted an American-led worldwide maritime response, together with a sequence of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The US has accused Iran of supplying the Houthis. However US officers additionally acknowledge that Tehran has no direct management over the Houthis or plenty of different Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
