Incident Involving An MQ-9 Confirmed By U.S. Officials

Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the downing of a U.S. military MQ-9 drone southeast of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

Fox News reports that the rebels said in a statement that the unmanned aircraft was brought down by a surface-to-air missile. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it was investigating the claims that they attacked the unmanned U.S. aircraft that was "operating in authorized airspace" over Yemen.

"We have been clear that Iran's provocative actions and support to militants and proxies, like the Iranian-backed Houthis, poses a serious threat to stability in the region and our partners," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Earl Brown, a CENTCOM spokesman.

This marks the second time the Iranian-backed rebels have claimed to have brought down an MQ-9 drone. The previous incident occurred in June, according to officials.

Iran has consistently denied supplying the Houthi rebels with military hardware. But the rebels have reportedly increasingly used Iranian drones and missiles to attack targets in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report