Yemeni Forces, Allies Shoot Down Saudi-Led Reconnaissance Drone in Hajjah
Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition as it was flying in the skies over the country’s northwestern province of Hajjah, according to Press T.V.
An unnamed Yemen military source told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down the drone as it was on a reconnaissance mission over al-Mazraq area in the Harad district of the province, located approximately 130 kilometers northwest of the capital Sana’a, on Saturday.
The development came only a day after Yemeni army forces and Popular Committees fighters shot down a spy drone of the Saudi-led military coalition in the skies over Yemen’s strategic western coastal province of Hudaydah.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was struck with a surface-to-air missile over al-Fazah area in the al-Tuhayta district.
On June 19, the spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said, said Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, had launched a string of airstrikes against unmanned aerial vehicles and military targets at Jizan Airport, using a squadron of domestically-manufactured Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drones.
Saree further noted that the attacks led to the suspension of flights at the airport.
“We have sophisticated military hardware that US-built and other air defense systems deployed in Saudi Arabia cannot intercept. Our ballistic missiles, rockets and drone can hit any target all across Saudi Arabia. Our strikes will not be limited to Asir, Najran and Jizan. The Saudi enemy must know that we will d expand the scope of deterrence in case the military aggression continues,” the top Yemeni military official pointed out.
Also on Saturday, Yemeni forces and their allies struck the positions of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in Yemen’s central province of al-Bayda as well as the southwestern province of Ta’izz.
A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said scores of Saudi mercenaries were killed and injured in the offensives.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
R.S