A US MQ-9 Reaper drone (file photo)
The Yemeni Armed Forces says it has shot down the second US MQ-9 drone, only three days after downing the first one during the past week, as part of a campaign in support of the oppressed people of Palestine and retaliation for aerial aggression by the US-led forces against the Arab country.
In a statement on Thursday, the Yemeni Armed Forces said that their air defenses managed to shoot down an American MQ-9 Reaper, a hunter-killer drone designed for long-endurance and high-altitude surveillance, over the skies of Yemen’s western province of al-Hudaydah.
“In support of the oppressed Palestinian people and in backing their noble and valiant resistance, with the Help of Allah Almighty, the air defenses of the Yemeni Armed Forces have shot down a hostile American MQ-9 drone while it was violating Yemeni airspace and carrying out hostile missions over the airspace of al-Hudaydah Governorate using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile,” said Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for Yemen’s military, in a televised statement.
He added that this is the second such drone that Yemeni air defenses had downed “within 72 hours and the 17th throughout the Battle of the Promised Victory and the Sacred Jihad in support of Gaza,” that began shortly after October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its ongoing genocidal war against the besieged Gaza Strip.
The armed forces said on Monday that they shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the central province of Ma'rib.
The Yemeni Armed Forces reaffirmed on Thursday their commitment to resisting any attempts to threaten Yemen’s sovereignty, emphasizing that, together with the Yemeni people, they will persist in their operations in solidarity with Gazans, continuing until the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip ends and the blockade is lifted.
Last month, US President Donald Trump stressed that he had authorized “decisive and powerful military action” against Yemen’s military and the resistance movement and later threatened to “completely annihilate them.”
Yemenis have been hitting Israeli and American targets in support of Palestinians in Gaza since the regime launched its devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, and in response to the American-British aggression on their homeland.
The operations have effectively shut down the Eilat port south of the occupied territories, causing significant economic setbacks for the Israelis.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until Israel’s ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.
