CNN
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The US is investigating after an unmanned US drone crashed close to Hodeidah in Yemen early Monday morning, two US officers informed CNN.
It’s unclear if the Air Power MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned drone primarily used for intelligence assortment, merely crashed or was shot down. A spokesperson for the Iran-backed Houthi forces stated in a press release posted on X, previously Twitter, that the drone was shot down “with an acceptable missile.”
It wouldn’t be the primary time the militant group was in a position to shoot down a US drone. The Houthis previously shot down a MQ-9 Reaper in November off the coast of Yemen.
The US has continued its strikes in opposition to the Houthis inside Yemen for the group’s ongoing assaults on business transport within the Pink Sea. On Saturday, the US carried out 5 self-defense strikes on three cellular anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned floor vessel, and one unmanned underwater vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, US Central Command stated.
The missiles and unmanned vessels had been decided to current “an imminent menace to US Navy ships and service provider vessels within the area,” CENTCOM stated in a submit on X.
The information of the MQ-9 crash comes as cargo ship within the Gulf of Aden was deserted by its crew following an assault by the Houthis. The Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Saree, stated on X that the assault on the Belize-flagged, UK-registered and Lebanese-operated cargo ship was a retaliation in opposition to “American-British aggression” in Yemen.
The US and UK have carried out a number of joint strikes in Yemen, vowing to proceed if the Houthis don’t stop their assaults.