Yemen's Houthi rebels on Frida⭕y claimed to have shot down an American drone, hours after footage circulated online of what appeared to be the wreckage of an MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Early Saturday, a vessel൩ also came under attack in🍃 the Red Sea.
Th⛦e two incidents likely represent just the latest attacks by the Houthis as they press their campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that rebels shot down the Reaper ꦛon Thursday with a surface-to-air missile.
He described t💯he drone as “carrying out hostile actions" in Yemen's Marib province, which remaꦰins held by allies of Yemen's exiled, internationally recognised government.
The Houthis later released footage they claimed showed the surface-to-ai🧸r-missile being launched💞 at night, along with night-vision footage of the missile hitting the drone.
A man, whose voice had been digitally altered🉐 to apparently prevent identification, chanted the Houthi slogan: "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
Online video showed wrecka༺ge resembling the pieces of the Reaper on the ground, as well as footage of that wreckage on fire.
The US military did not respond to a request ▨for c🍌omment from The Associated Press over the Houthi claim.
While the rebels have made claims about attacks that turned out later not to be true, they have a history of shooting down US drones and have been armed by their main benefactor, Iran, with weapons capable of high-altitude at🍬tack.
Since the Houthis seized the country's north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the US military has previously lost at least five drones to the 🅠rebe🐻ls.
Reapers, which cost around USD 30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours be𝕴fore needing to land.
The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demand🍃ing Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more💦 than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized𒁃 one vessel and sunk another since November, accordi🦄ng to the US Maritime Administration.
Early Saturday, the British 𓂃military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a ship came under attack🌜 off the coast of Yemen's port city of Hodeida.
The captain “has confirmed sustaining slight dam✤age after being struck by an unknown object on his port quarter,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call.”
The private securi💞ty firm Ambrey said it believed the vessel struck was a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker.
Radio traffic suggested the ship was “hit by a missile and that th🍃ere was a fire in the steering gear flat,” Ambrey said.
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the attack, though ꧅it typically takes them hours to issue a claim.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden still remains low becauseᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ of the threat, however.
