Yemen military police find truck filled with Houthi spy drones

Image of a seized truck that was carrying drones on its way to the Houthi rebels in December 2016 [ALyemenNow/Twitter]

Image of the seized truck that was carrying drones on its way to the Houthi rebels [ALyemenNow/Twitter]

Image of the seized truck that was carrying drones on its way to the Houthi rebels [ALyemenNow/Twitter]

Image of the seized truck that was carrying drones on its way to the Houthi rebels [ALyemenNow/Twitter]

A Yemeni military official revealed that the military police has seized a commercial truck carrying spy drones on its way to the Houthi rebels.

The truck was caught in the province of Marib, which is largely under the influence of the Yemeni government, with Houthi presence remaining in pockets of the province. Before it was caught, the truck was en-route to the Houthi held capital city of Yemen, Sana’a.

In previous months, the Yemeni authorities have seized a number of disguised commercial trucks that contains weapons for Houthi and Saleh forces in Marib. They were stopped as they head towards Sana’a.

Some of the trucks have been smuggled through Oman to the Houthi rebels. Omani political and security officials have continuously reiterated that the Omani government has never been involved in supplying the Houthis with weapons.

It is unclear however, where this truck in particular came from.

Some of the boxes had Mandarin writing on them, though despite local suspicions, thus far, there is no proof that the contents inside the box have come from China. The military official has also refused to mention the origins of the spy drones.

At the beginning of the month, a Houthi delegation visited China on an official visit.

Yemen has been locked in a bitter battle between Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh against government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed as a result of the conflict with millions displaced as a result of the fighting.