Houthis shoot down US drone, threaten Israel with open war

US Air Force MQ-9 drone which crashed after it was targeted by a missile launched by Houthi forces in the Houthi stronghold province of Saadah on April 25, 2024 [Handout/Houthi Media Center via Getty Images]

The Houthis in Yemen announced yesterday that they had shot down a US drone, while a group leader threatened Israel with open war and devastating strikes in response to its deadly raids on Al Hudaydah Governorate in the west of the country.

The group said that the drone in question was an American MQ-9 Reaper. It was brought down in the east of Saada Governorate, reported Al-Masirah. It added that the drone’s wreckage had been documented without further details, while no immediate comment was issued by the United States about the report.

An American drone shot down on 16 September was the tenth of its kind since the group started to target Israeli-owned and Israel-bound merchant ships in the Red Sea out of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

The MQ-9 has advanced features that are highly reliable. It can reach 370 kilometres per hour, has a 20-metre wingspan, and weighs more than 2,200 kilograms.

READ: Houthis say Hudaydah has no electricity due to Israeli raids

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