Yemeni forces shoot down Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Hudaydah

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition while flying in the skies over Yemen’s strategic western coastal province of Hudaydah.

The media bureau of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement announced in a statement that Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down the drone with a surface-to-air missile on Friday afternoon.

The statement added that the drone was struck as it was on a surveillance mission over al-Fazah area in the al-Tuhayta district of the province.

On Thursday evening, 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.

On June 15, Ansarullah said in a statement that they had launched drone strikes against Jizan Airport as well as Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir.

SS