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Yemeni forces shoot down Saudi spy drone in Ibb

Saturday, 05 March 2016 5:31 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 March 2016 6:06 PM ]

The photo shows remains of a Saudi spy aircraft shot down by the Yemeni forces in the northwestern province of Hajjah on February 3, 2016.

Yemeni army forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly shot down a Saudi spy drone flying over the war-torn country’s southern province of Ibb.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was conducting a surveillance drone over al-Makhadir district in the province, located 194 kilometers (121 miles) south of the capital, Sana'a, on Saturday, when it was struck by a surface-to-air missile, Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.

The development was the second of its kind in less than a week as Yemeni soldiers and allied forces targeted an Emirati drone in the sky over the town of Azan, located 550 kilometers (341 miles) southeast of Sana'a, on February 27. The downed aircraft was purportedly on a surveillance mission in the area.

On February 3, Yemeni army forces and fighters from Popular Committees shot down a Saudi spy aircraft over Harad district in the northwestern province of Hajjah.

The downing of the unmanned aerial vehicle came only a few days after Yemeni troops fired a surface-to-air missile at another Saudi spy drone in Yemen’s northwestern Sa’ada Province.

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March last year. The Saudi military strikes were launched to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi, back to power.

More than 8,400 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed and 16,015 others injured since March 2015. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

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