Yemen claims to have shot down US drone

A US MQ-9 Reaper drone has been shot down over Yemen, with the Houthis claiming responsibility. The militant group, which de facto controls much of Yemen, released a statement on Wednesday saying that they had shot down a drone ‘while carrying out hostile, monitoring, and spying operations in Yemen territorial waters along with the US military support to the Israeli entity.’ They also released a video of the strike, which appears to show the drone transitioning from being intact to identifying as an explosion. The Pentagon later confirmed the downing of the drone, saying ‘we can confirm that a US military MQ-9 remotely-piloted aircraft was shot down off the coast of Yemen by Houthi forces.’ The US military had previously confirmed that they were operating spy drones in the region, for the purpose of locating hostages taken by Hamas.