Yemen: Houthis announce they shot down another American drone

Yemen's Houthi rebels announced this Tuesday that they shot down another American drone. The American military has not confirmed this information but if true, it would be the second MQ-9 Reaper shot down in Yemen in less than a week and the fifth since the United States military got involved in the region.

The Houthi rebel group posted on social media a video showing its anti-aircraft defenses shooting down a drone. They claim that it is an unmanned American aerial device. It seems that this occurred in Bayda, in the south of the country.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree reported this Tuesday that the drone was shot down with a locally made surface-to-air missile. He did not say when it took place but claimed that the drone "was carrying out hostile missions" over Yemen.

Houthi rebels control most of the country after a conflict that pitted them against government forces backed by an Arab coalition. Thanks to the support of Iran, these radical Islamists now have control over the capital, Sana'a, and most of Yemen's oil resources.

Since the beginning of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have launched several military operations to destabilize Israel and the international coalitions with a presence in the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. In addition to launching rockets into Israeli territory, the Houthis have relatively successfully blocked maritime trade through the Red Sea.