Video : Yemeni air defenses intercept, shoot down US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Bayda province

The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) says the country’s air defense units have successfully shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone while it was conducting hostile activities in the airspace over the central province of Bayda.

Yahya Saree said in a televised statement on Tuesday that the unmanned aerial vehicle was targeted with a locally made surface-to-air missile, and that footage of shootdown will be released later.

According to Saree, this is the fifth aircraft that the Yemeni air defenses have shot down since the start of the operations in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israeli regime’s genocidal war.

The spokesperson affirmed that Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to enhance their defense capabilities in order to confront the joint US-British aggression against their homeland, and will carry on conducting pro-Palestine operations until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ceases and the all-out siege on the coastal sliver is fully lifted.

The US military did not immediately acknowledge the shooting down.

Back on May 17, Saree said Yemeni forces had downed another US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the southeastern province of Ma’rib.

Yemen’s Houthis shot down another (the fifth) American MQ-9 Reaper UAV in Yemeni airspace.

The unit cost of the MQ-9 Reaper UAV appears to be in the range of $14 million to $32 million per aircraft, with the most commonly cited figure being around $31 million per unit. pic.twitter.com/GzHoUzyun3

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 21, 2024