Houthis shoot down USA military drone over Yemen
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Aug 22, 2019
A Houthi military spokesman had earlier been quoted by the rebels' Al-Masirah TV as saying that their air defenses had brought down a United States drone.
The Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, and the supporters of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who are backed by a coalition involving Saudi and USA, have been involved in a bloody civil war. They also regularly fire rockets across the Yemen border into Saudi Arabia. Since the decision by Trump in 2018 to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, Washington has attempted to use what it calls "maximum pressure" to change Iran's behavior and limit its nuclear ambitions.
A USA military drone was shot down in Yemen's Dhamar governorate late on Tuesday.
It said the fishermen waved white cloths, raised their hands, or otherwise showed they posed no threat.
No official information has been received as to what the goal of the drone was.
The war in Yemen began in March 2015 when the Saudi-UAE-led coalition launched its air campaign to prevent the Houthis from overrunning the south and reinstate the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Two US officials confirmed to Reuters what a Houthi military rep has claimed: that a US drone was shot down over Yemen on Tuesday night. A starvation resulting from the conflict between these two have resulted in the deaths of over ten thousand civilians.
A similar incident occurred back in June when another USA drone was brought down over Yemen by Houthi rebels.
We are investigating reports of an attack by Iranian-backed Houthis forces on a USA unmanned aerial system (UAS) operating in authorized airspace over Yemen.
The group has taken advantage of the long-running conflict between the Houthis and government forces to try to strengthen its position in the impoverished country.
"It appears to have been fired by the Houthis and enabled by Iran", the official said, without providing details or specific evidence. "Our skies are no longer open to violations as they once were and the coming days will see great surprises", he added.
