The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed on Tuesday that they successfully brought down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone in the skies above the northwestern province of Hajjah, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The group also stated that it had launched fresh assaults on two US Navy aircraft carriers.
“A hostile American MQ-9 drone was shot down while it was conducting hostile missions in Hajjah’s airspace,” said Yahya Sarea, the group's military spokesperson, during a broadcast on the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah television network.
Sarea specified that the drone had been targeted with a domestically produced surface-to-air missile. “The MQ-9 drone is the seventh drone we had shot down this April and the 22nd since November 2023,” he noted.
The spokesperson further claimed that the group had initiated new offensives on two US carriers — the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson — along with their accompanying warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. These operations, he said, involved the use of both cruise missiles and drones.
He emphasized that the group remains prepared to counter continued US military action. “We will continue to deal responsibly and appropriately with any developments in the coming days at all levels,” Sarea stated. “We will not stop supporting Palestinians until the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade on it is lifted.”
The Houthis have regularly claimed to have downed US drones, including last Friday, when they published footage of what they claimed was the wreckage of an MQ-9 drone that they shot down over Sanaa.
The Iranian-backed rebels claimed that the drone shot down on Friday was the 20th American drone they have downed, of which 19 were MQ-9s.
Hostilities between the Houthis and the United States have intensified in recent weeks, particularly following the resumption of US airstrikes on March 15. The renewed campaign aims to curb Houthi threats against American naval forces and Israel-linked targets.
President Donald Trump recently stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated" and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis' destruction.
Trump later said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.