The Houthis said Friday that Yemeni forces downed another US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen and published footage of air defenses hitting the US aircraft.
The US military hasn’t confirmed that it lost an MQ-9 over Yemen and did not respond to a request to comment about the Houthi claim when asked by AP. But video emerged of what appears to be the wreckage of a US MQ-9 in Yemen, and the Houthis have successfully targeted the drones before.
The incident would mark the fourth time the Houthis shot down a US MQ-9 since November 2023. Each MQ-9 is estimated to be worth about $30 million, bringing the total costs for the US military in lost MQ-9 drones to about $120 million.
The US has also spent over $1 billion in munitions used to bomb Yemen and other operations in the Middle East that started due to Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
The US bombing campaign against the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, has done nothing to deter the group. US Central Command said that a Houthi missile hit a Greek-owned tanker early Saturday morning, although the Yemeni group hasn’t taken credit for the attack.
The US was bombing Yemen on a near-daily basis from January 12 until about mid-March, when US and British strikes on the country declined. According to the Yemen Data Project, April marked the least intense month of bombings since they started in January.
The Houthis have been clear that they would only stop attacks on Israel-linked shipping if there were a ceasefire in Gaza. Tim Lenderking, President Biden’s Yemen envoy, has acknowledged that he thinks the Houthis would be true to their word, but the US refuses to pressure Israel to agree to end its onslaught in Gaza.
From 2015-2022, the US backed a brutal Saudi/UAE war against the Houthis that involved heavy airstrikes and a blockade, and the Houthis only became more of a capable fighting force during that time.
The war killed at least 377,000 people, with more than half dying of starvation and disease caused by the siege. A ceasefire between the Houthis and Saudis has held relatively well since April 2022, but new US sanctions are now blocking the implementation of a lasting peace deal.
Borrow and spend Democrats are the same as Republicans.
The Houthis were restocking missiles and drones for farther targets in April and will attack going forward…! New targets are Israeli ships in Mediterranean sea and Indian ocean…!
” Israeli ships in Mediterranean” And how are they going to obtain targeting information?
Nobody cared about the 10x greater slaughter of Yemenis, not sure why civilians getting slaughtered in war is such a surprise to the world.
“Nobody cared about the 10x greater slaughter of Yemenis” Because Israel was not involved.
If they down five, the Pentagon will blow up number six for free!
lol…!
Ya gotta love these guys. They take no crap from anyone.
Also, Ansarallah has declared they are expanding their area of operations to include the Mediterranean – and potentially “beyond”, whatever that means. Any and all shipping directed to Israel will be hit. The damage done to the Israeli economy is already nearly terminal, according to some people.
Ansarallah could expand its hits to anything headed for the western countries supporting Israel – this would magnify the economic impact world-wide. The impact on shipping rates world-wide is already being felt.