It’s the second American drone downed by the Iran-backed militants.
An American MQ-9 Reaper flying near Yemen has been shot down by Houthi militants, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News and the Pentagon later stated on Tuesday.
The Houthis stated they’d focused the Reaper in addition to two American ships within the Gulf of Aden in an announcement Monday.
This is their second downing of a Reaper, having shot one down one in worldwide airspace near Yemen in November.
The U.S. has designated the Houthis as a world terrorist group amid rising regional tensions and a constant deployment of missiles and drones towards one another since conflict in Gaza broke out.
The Pentagon says the drone, taken down by a surface-to-air missile, has not been recovered and that an investigation is ongoing.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh conceded that Houthi “attacks are getting more sophisticated,” however she insisted “our dynamic strikes or coalition strikes absolutely have an impact.”
Singh famous an “uptick” over the weekend of exercise by the Houthis, who’re backed by Iran.
“If Iran does have a role to play with the Houthis, it’s not doing it,” she stated, urging the Iranians to exert affect over the Houthis to tame tensions.
The U.S. performed what it calls 5 self-defense strikes Sunday towards the Houthis, one in all which focused an unmanned underwater vessel, the primary submarine the U.S. says the Houthis have employed since tensions started to flare in October.
The Coast Guard reported an interdiction this month that seized the parts of the underwater drone that U.S. forces focused Sunday.
The remotely-operated Reaper is charged primarily with intelligence gathering and prices greater than $50 million, in response to the Air Force.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
