Yemen‘s Huthi rebels on Wednesday claimed to have shot down a US drone off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula country, saying it had been deployed in support of Israel.
“Our air defences were able to down an American MQ-9 while it was carrying out hostile surveillance and espionage activities in Yemeni territorial waters as part of American military support for Israel,” the group, allied to Iran, said in a statement.
The US military did not immediately react to the statement.
The Huthis are part of the “axis of resistance” of groups opposed to Israel.
They have claimed responsibility for multiple drone and missile attacks against Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
That conflict was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel in which it killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, Israeli officials say.
It has responded with a relentless bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza, aimed at destroying Hamas, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 10,500 people, also mostly civilians.
“Hostile activities will not deter the armed forces of Yemen from pursuing their military operations against the Israeli entity and its oppression of the Palestinian people,” the Huthi statement said.
The Huthis, opposed to government forces in Yemen, took control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014.
