Downed Saudi drone over NW Yemen, claim Houthis

Sanaa, Aug 23 (IANS) Yemen’s Houthi group said on Sunday it had shot down “a Saudi reconnaissance drone” over the northwestern province of Hajjah.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency, citing a military source within the group, identified the drone as a ScanEagle, saying it was brought down while flying over Hajjah, which borders Saudi Arabia.

The source said the Houthi forces shot down the drone using an “appropriate weapon,” without giving further details.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim.

Last week, Yemen’s Houthi group said it had carried out two drone attacks targeting an airport and an oil facility in Saudi Arabia’s southern region of Najran.

In a statement on social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched two drone strikes, one hitting a “sensitive target” at Najran airport and the other hitting a facility belonging to Saudi state oil giant Aramco.

Saree claimed both attacks “achieved their objectives,” without providing further details on possible casualties or damage.

The strikes were carried out in response to what the group described as Saudi drone incursions into the airspace over Yemen’s northern province of Saada, a Houthi stronghold bordering Saudi Arabia, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Previously, Yemeni government forces said they had carried out 81 military operations against Houthi positions over the past 24 hours, as fighting between the two sides continues to intensify across several fronts in the war-torn country.

Majid al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for the government forces, said in a press statement that the operations targeted Houthi members and positions along multiple frontlines, killing or wounding a number of them, including field commanders.

Al-Nuzaili added that the operations were carried out in response to repeated Houthi attacks on government forces and civilian infrastructure.

On July 20, the Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping, citing an alleged Saudi blockade of Houthi-held areas. Since then, the Houthis have claimed a series of attacks on Saudi tankers, energy facilities and airports, while also intensifying missile and drone strikes on government-held areas in Yemen.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.

–IANS

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