Yemen’s Houthi rebels shot down a US drone off Yemen’s coast, a US Defense Department source said, confirming an earlier statement by the Iran-aligned rebel movement, AFP reported.

MQ-9 Reaper drone with Hellfire missiles and JDAM bombsPhoto: ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

“A US MQ-9 military remotely piloted aircraft was shot down off the coast of Yemen by the Houthis,” a senior Pentagon official told AFP.

Houthi rebels close to Iran announced on Wednesday that they had shot down a US drone off the coast of Yemen, which they said was deployed as part of US military support for Israel.

“Our air defenses managed to shoot down a US MQ-9 aircraft while conducting hostile, surveillance and espionage activities in the airspace of Yemen’s territorial waters as part of US military support to the Israeli entity,” the Yemeni rebels said in a statement.

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