Sixth US Reaper Drone Falls Into Houthi Hands
A US MQ–9 Reaper drone came down over Yemen on Wednesday, video footage and images circulating social media have confirmed. This marks the sixth US MQ-9 Reaper to fall into the hands of Yemen’s Ansarallah movement and Armed Forces (the Houthis).
Yemeni forces have yet to confirm whether the drone was downed or if it crashed, as video footage shows the US drone in near-perfect condition. The fourth and fifth MQ-9 Reaper drones were shot down on 17th and 21st of May. The MQ-9 Reaper is worth around $30 million.
Washington and London have, since January, been waging a brutal campaign of airstrikes against Yemen in response to the pro-Palestine naval operations that Ansarallah and the Yemeni army began in November last year.
The start of the US-led war against Yemen prompted Yemeni forces to begin targeting US and British vessels alongside those linked to or bound for Israel.
The western campaign has done nothing to deter the Yemenis. US and EU maritime task forces have failed to progress in preventing attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Arab Sea, Indian Ocean, and elsewhere, which have resulted in a strain on both the Israeli economy and international shipping as a whole.
The Yemeni Armed Forces announced in a statement on Wednesday that it targeted six ships in three different seas, using both missiles and drones. Three ships were struck in the Red Sea, another two US ships were hit in the Arabian Sea, while one oil tanker was hit in the Mediterranean.
Yemen said at the start of May that its operations would expand into the Mediterranean Sea, following its announcement in March that the Indian Ocean would be included in its scope of attacks.
BREAKING | The downing of yet another US MQ-9 drone by the Yemeni Armed Forces in Marib. pic.twitter.com/oNGQlzr3OS
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) May 29, 2024
It has repeatedly vowed that it will continue its operations until the war in Gaza is brought to an end and until the siege is lifted and sufficient amounts of aid are brought in to the Palestinians.
"We believe that the famine currently occurring in Gaza is sufficient to provoke the feelings of the entire world, and therefore we are working day and night to develop and expand our operations to lift this injustice and stop these crimes against the people of Gaza," a Yemeni official told Mondoweiss on May 26.