Yemen’s Houthi rebels shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates
Associated PressDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels shot down what they described as an American drone early Friday, potentially the latest downing of a U.S. spy drone as the militants continue their attacks on the Red Sea corridor. The U.S. military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky and a field of burning debris in what those off-camera described as an area of Yemen’s al-Jawf province. Iran denies arming the rebels, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthi rebels despite a United Nations arms embargo. Since Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the rebels have shot down MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024.