Yemen’s Houthis claim they shot down another US Reaper drone
Claimed downing of US$30 million drone came as Trump warned ‘real pain is yet to come’ for Houthis and Iran
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed Tuesday that they shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, even as the US kept up its campaign of intense air strikes targeting the group.
The reported shootdown over Yemen’s contested Marib governate came as air strikes hit around Sanaa, the country’s rebel-held capital, and Saada, a stronghold for the Houthis.
US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to both the Houthis and their main benefactor, Iran, describing the group as having “been decimated” by the campaign of strikes that began March 15.
“Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us,” Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social. “We hit them every day and night – Harder and harder. Their capabilities that threaten Shipping and the Region are rapidly being destroyed. Our attacks will continue until they are no longer a threat to Freedom of Navigation.”
He added: “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran”.
The rebels claimed to have felled a drone in Marib governorate, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government. Footage released on social media showed flames in the night, with a Yemeni man claiming a drone had been shot down.
